Miracle Switch
by felixiglesias8
Summary: Fukiyose Seiri, the Iron Wall Girl, and Shutaura Sequenzia, the Crow Leader, found themselves in a horrifying predicament. They've switched bodies. Can the two ladies imitate each other without failing? Can Shutaura be the class leader everyone follows (and fears)? Can Fukiyose be the team leader that has charmed all the Black Crows? Set after Endymion no Kiseki/before Daihaseisai
1. The Unexpected Situation

The early morning sun sneaked in through the space between the folding windows, illuminating the dark room. Fukiyose stirred in her sleep, but she was awoken by a sound. It was a ring, one that she didn't even know or remember setting it up. She chose to ignore it, as her body felt heavy and tired. But then, it sounded again. Fed up, she deduced that it was her phone so she then reached for it, but before she could get it, it stopped ringing and vibrating. With a groan, she got up anyway and stretched. _It's Saturday and next week would be the start of the Daihaseisai festival._ She then looked around and that was when she noticed something.

 _This room was different._

As a matter of fact, different would be an understatement. _It isn't her room._ Jumping up, she also noticed that his chests were a bit _lighter_. She normally doesn't care about her breasts but right now, the fact that she is able to move with ease means that something must have happened to her chests. Slightly horrified, she then moved into the nearest mirror that she happened to see. Looking towards herself, she nearly fainted in shock as she noticed her face and body had slightly changed. "Her" signature forehead is still visible but not nearly as big as before. Her hair has become a lot longer and more straight and blackish while her eyes are black instead of brown. In fact, her body was slightly slimmer right now and her skin was a bit paler but still attractive enough to make men harden themselves.

She was no longer Fukiyose Seiri, the feared Iron Wall Girl of Class 1-7 in a certain high school in form but someone else.

"How did this happen?" the _formerly_ busty lady asked himself as she touched her ― someone else's cheek. Horror filled her now pure ebony eyes as this was something that wouldn't have crossed her mind as possible.

Due to her quick thinking, she looked for the phone a while back and proceeded to dial her number in her student dormitory room. Holding the phone to her ears, she waited for her phone to pick up. _And hope, whoever picks it up is the one owning this body I'm occupying._

#

Meanwhile, Shutaura Sequenzia was still sound asleep. The whole building was so quiet that she didn't even stir. However, she woke as he heard a sound. Refusing to get up, the slick woman pulled the sheet over her head, ignoring the incessant ringing. He groaned in misery, wondering what could've brought this on her. She had to admit she was very exhausted after everything that happened just last two days. Not only did the fusion of Arisas Meigo's person cause a clash of personalities with her own brute manners. _I began to hear music once again._ Her unit, the Black Crows, was reintegrated into Anti-Skill as a special operating force and she was once tasked to lead them. She can't complain though. _For now, I have no choice but to take it up._ Though she had to admit she started to consider taking a music career. Yet, she's still had that façade of that old Sequenzia, the one who doesn't take any bullshit and would gladly show her fists to any pervert who would try to show her a good time.

Right now, the phone kept ringing and soon, she was force to wake up. And as soon as she stood up from her bed, her drowsy eyes were replaced by expressions of confusion. Looking about the room, she noticed that she _wasn't_ in her own room anymore. This room had a well-organized book shelf, baskets of what she can call health products and looked like to be a typical student dorm. Rubbing her eyes, she ran to the nearest wall mirror she sees and as soon as she faces the mirror, she noticed that her hair isn't any more pure black but is more of blackish-brown. Nervous, she scrutinized her appearance more and realized in horror that she isn't even in her own body. The face that looked back at her wasn't exactly hers and it is better to say it looked like a prettier version of herself. Her hairstyle only changed slightly but did notice that her forehead was even larger. Her face was a bit rosier and her eyes weren't any more black but more of brown. And most of all…

Her boobs had largely grown and was heavier.

She then did something which could even be uncharacteristic for the body's owner.

She screamed.

She screamed so loud that it sounded throughout the neighbourhood. She held her hair in shock almost ripping it out. "I'm somebody else…" She muttered in horror. Just then, she heard the phone continuing to ring. She quickly grabbed it up and flipped it open; she silently prayed that it was the person occupying her real body on the other end.

" _Hello_?" she heard the voice say. " _Uhm…I don't know how to explain this but…_ "

At the tone of the voice, her face brightened at that as she knew it might be because she is in her real body. "Hello?" he answered. "I know what you will say…you're in my body right!?" she ended up shrieking. For once since the crashing of the Orion plane which resulted in the death of her father Daedalus, she was scared.

" _Uhm…yeah, I think_ ," Shutaura can hear the other line sigh, " _And based from observing a few things and notebooks here, I think your name is like…Shu…Shutaura…something like that…_ "

"Yes, it's me, Shutaura Sequenzia," she replied, somehow relieved to know the person whom she is speaking right now is occupying her body, though she isn't thinking it's a good thing. She then checked an ID lying nearby and quickly replied, "Well…I checked your ID and so , you're Fukiyose Seiri, no?"

" _Ah, that's me_!" the female on the other line replied frantically, " _Do you have any idea how did this all happen?_ "

"I don't. But I'm coming over, don't go anywhere. We need to sort out whatever this is."

" _Sure, how about in two hours' time_?" Fukiyose asked asked.

"Alright," Both girls hung up the phone and went to take a bath.

#

Not knowing what Fukiyose's dormitory is like, Shutaura had tripped upon encountering a some health product sprawled in the floor before she reached the bathroom. The bathroom was different from hers. The floor was tiled completely in white and the walls were painted in white as well. To her right were four towels, all of which were white in color. They hung in a rack, which was fastened to the wall. To her left, there was the basin, pristine white and sparkling. She then stepped over into the shower, which was separated by a transparent folding door and began to wash her new body and niftier and fattier breasts.

After she was done, the Crow Leader went back into sleeping quarters and changed. She looked for simple jeans and T-shirt and she went downstairs. She walked slowly down, not wanting to be taken by surprise at what lies at the bottom. When she finally reached, she looked around and discovered that is indeed a school dormitory reserved for girls.

"Ah, you're up early, Fukiyose-san!" a woman who looked to be the same age as her (Fukiyose) greeted when she realized that she was standing there. A smile, albeit fake, played at Shutaura's new lips when she heard the girl call. She then waved off and said in a forced tone, "Good morning…uh…I have to go. Now if you excuse me, I'll leave." She then sped off, leaving the girl quite confused.

Once she was on the streets, Shutaura can only pray that the other person plays out her part well, "Tsk…I hope she doesn't embarrass me very much…"

#

Fukiyose was in same predicament as Shutaura.

 _Or rather, worst._

She had no idea where the bathroom was (since it was a large apartment complex reserved for people like Shutaura), but what surprised her was that the whole building was strangely quiet. He figured that she was alone as of the moment but doubt that she lives alone. Pushing those thoughts aside, Fukiyose went outside the room and navigated in the short hall way until she finally found the bathroom. She was almost blinded as soon as she steps in. The tiles of the very large full bathroom were a mix of granite and grey tiles. It was even larger than her own dormitory bathroom; to her left side were racks of towels and also a tub with a heater while on her right side, there is the Jacuzzi, a shower room, and a toilet. She chuckled as for once, she felt like living the life of a queen. She then turns on the Jacuzzi and soon, she found herself relaxing while being soaking herself under the warmth and soothing water.

After she took the bath, she then dried herself off and she then searched the very large cabinet in the room for some clothes. Her eyebrows rose off in curiosity at seeing some strange outfit. _What's with this cat suit?_ She didn't take too long though as she initially found a black tank top which she deemed fir for someone like her as well as a pair of jeans. She then took a sit at the bed and waited for the one occupying her real body to arrive.

 _I hope we can sort this out quickly as possible!_

* * *

 **\- Author's Notes -**

So yeah, i actually thought of this concept a few months back and personally, I find it interesting so I decided to include it in my projects. Slow but surely high-quality updates.

Also coming up next...

\- Updates for Toaru Majutsu No Musical would be by next week or a two.

 **An advanced Happy New Year for everyone!**


	2. The Meeting

Shutaura swiftly walked in the streets like a panther hunting for her prey. _Of all times, this happens!_ Even if the personality of Arisa had fused with her, this does not mean that she is in a good mood after all. In fact, she is in a bad mood right now as her old personality is right now dominating especially when something as astonishing as switching bodies happens. _And her damn boobs are too heavy!_

She also ponders upon the possibility of wearing her cat suit while in Fukiyose's body. _That would be quite inconvenient._ She doesn't want to even think about it as she continues to walk stealthily in the pavement. She can see thugs and street peddlers suddenly looking at her everywhere she walks and began to cat call and whistle in a malicious way. One man even tried to touch her by saying that she'll have a good time with her. After a few seconds, the thug was seen sprawled on the floor, bruises and cuts in his face very apparent as his ribs are fractured.

After a few more minutes, she reaches a train station where she catches a ride towards School District 23, where the Endymion tower once stood. Although the main headquarters of the Black Crows had been relocated somewhere near the Windowless Building in District 7, where Fukiyose and a certain spiky haired boy's dormitory and school is located. Feeling tired, she actually took a power nap as the train began to thread slowly towards its destination.

After almost thirty minutes, the train stopped in the station of District 23, prompting her to immediately stand up and proceed to her apartment complex straight away. After a few minutes, she finally reached her apartment. The building, while officially labelled as an apartment, looked more like a glamorous condominium in design, albeit smaller. It is a 20-story building with twenty rooms in each floor. It has a swimming pool in its proximity as well as a gymnasium in the first floor of the building. Quite a residence for someone who held high position in one of Academy City's hidden organization (or what's left of it).

Another thing that is bothering her as she walks into the building is the fact that she feels taller in the body she's currently occupying. Originally standing at 155 cm (that's around five feet flat to around five feet and two inches), she deduces that the original owner of the body is quite tall. It doesn't mean that she sees herself as too short but seeing things from a different height gives her new literal perspective.

Once she was inside, she immediately proceeds to the elevator where she presses the button "15" and patiently waited as she was being carried above. When she finally reached the fifteenth floor, she then quickly proceeds to room 5 and in an instant, she was immediately greeted by an unexpected (or expected) sight.

"Eh!?" Shutaura can only stare as she finally sees herself in. It's like seeing your other twin.

"Hey there," Fukiyose only greeted back, her arms (technically Shutaura's) crossing as she sits rather comfortably in the bed, "Well…I guess we really had to take this out of the building to talk out."

After a moment of silence descended those two, Shutaura sighed as she then walks inside and sits beside her twin-like body, "Well, you're right. Being in the open in someone's else body is pretty much creeping me out. So let me clarify, you are Fukiyose Seiri?"

"Yes. That's my name," the _former_ busty girl said in an expression that Shutaura never expected it would carve in her original face, "Wait, can I ask you something?"

"Well, make it quick."

"What are those cat suits for?" Fukiyose can't help but feel curious as she had already peeked into the cabinet a while back and not surprisingly, she found those. Feeling a little embarrassed (another sign of Arisa's personality clashing with hers), Shutaura only bit her lip as she then explains, "I'm the captain of the Black Crows. We're mandated to maintain peace and security here in Academy City."

"I haven't heard of that organization," Fukiyose replied, quite skeptic, "And isn't that the job of Anti-Skill and Judgement?"

Acting as if she was expecting such an answer, Shutaura huffed and replied, "It's something you shouldn't ask anymore. Besides, aren't we supposed to solve how the hell did we even exchanged bodies." After that, they again kept quiet as they just share glances in an awkward silence. The truth is, none of them knows why this thing happened in their lives. Until Shutaura can no longer endure the serene environment and quickly screamed, "Can't we just talk it over!?"

The frightened Fukiyose now felt what is like when she gets angry, as she sees her own original body in an angry mood. _I didn't know I can be that imposing._ "We-Well, of course, we should talk it out. My guess is that this must be some kind of an Esper's work."

"I don't know about that," Shutaura replied as she then thinks deeper, "And even if we give it a benefit of the doubt and say this was really caused by an ESP power, then I don't know the motives of such act. First and foremost, we don't even know each other personally and second, we came from different backgrounds. But that's not my main problem right now. The thing is we should find out how we can…"

Suddenly, an idea popped out of the Black Crow's head like an apple hitting Isaac Newton's head. _Wait! I think he can help me!_

Suddenly, she felt very nostalgic and conflicted at the same time. She was reminded of the time where due to her blind anger and cynicism, she found herself at odds with the boy whom she had mixed relations with but who had a special place in her other half's heart. _Damn, this is painful_. Due to Arisa being able to meet and stay with him personally, Shutaura eventually inherited the memories of her alter ego and as such, she was able to receive information about a certain spiky haired boy's dormitory and other things about him the moment Arisa's body fused back with hers, the original one. _His smile…his idealistic personality…his right hand…_

For some reason, she was brought back into memories of instances where she witnessed (as well as from Arisa's point of view) how the boy fought. She witnessed how he was able to cancel out a certain red headed priest's flames, how he managed to destroy one of the automaton's hand in their underground battle and how he managed…to knock her down.

"I know where we should go then," the now busty Shutaura said as she looks towards Fukiyose, "But first and foremost, do you know of a boy named…Kamijou Touma?"

At the mention of that name, Fukiyose almost sputtered while she widens her eyes, "Eh!? How the hell did you know that name!?"

"It's a very long story," Shutaura said in a rough voice, "But I believe he can help us. I've been in his dormitory once." Arisa's the one who is in his dormitory so technically, that makes the Black Crow leader a marked visitor there as well.

Fukiyose was aghast at what she heard. _Impossible! How can a lazy, unproductive, and irresponsible guy like him who bemoans his miserable life and blames it on misfortune be able to help us!? And how the hell does this Shutaura girl knows him!? Wait, she could be possible one of those girls whom that stupid Kamijou had flirted!_ Though by the looks of it, Fukiyose can tell that by the looks of the other lady, she isn't the type to go around and tolerating a perverted boy.

"Well," Shutaura glanced at Fukiyose as she stands up and fixes herself, "Are you coming or not?"

#

It was another hot sunny Saturday and right now, a certain Kamijou Touma is busy cooking fried rice and sunny side-up eggs. It was just another typical Saturday for him. After getting injured in a certain battle in the tower of Endymion, which has been taken up to heavens by miracles, he had to recuperate in a hospital though he was able to go out the same day. After that, he and his walking library and mystical nun who goes by the name Index Librorum Prohibitorum had a short walk yesterday afternoon where the silver-haired girl once asked if Arisa Meigo was just an illusion, to which Kamijou replied that she wasn't an illusion since his power, the mysterious Imagine Breaker residing in his right hand, didn't cancel out her in person. _I wonder how she is now in her true self._ And speaking of Index…

"Touma! Touma!" The nun was basically starving now, evident in her repeatedly slamming the table with her enclosed fists, "What's taking you so long!? I'm hungry!"

"Just a minute, Index!" Kamijou replied as he flips the pan. _Can't she even wait for a second!? And one thing more, she does nothing but to eat, sleep, and watch that stupid anime show!_ He inwardly complained to himself as he continues to cook. After a while, he manages to prepare the food as he then lays the rice in a large plate while he puts the eggs a smaller plate. He then brings the two food to the table.

In an instant, Index then quickly decreases the rice by one-fourth its original size and gobbles up three of the four eggs, leaving the boy with no choice but to content himself with what's left of what he cooked as well as what some toasted bread and butter left in the refrigerator. While they were peacefully eating, Kamijou suddenly heard a knock from the door. A very hard one.

"Yeah! I'm coming! Just a minute!" the spiky haired boy shouted as he stands up from the dining table. But as soon as he opened the door, he was completely baffle as he met something unexpected.

"Shutaura!? What are you doing here? And with _Fukiyose_ of all people!?" Kamijou didn't know what to say as suddenly, he found himself facing two people who actually looked very similar to one another as if they are twins. "Eh!? You know what? I thought for a second that you are twins. You almost look the same." _Save for the eye color and the hair of Fukiyose, which has a tinge of either brown or grey._

The two seemed to ponder upon his words and looking at each other for the moment, they realized that what the boy said is actually true. But letting it slide in a split second, Fukiyose (in Shutaura's body) just stepped forward and quickly head butted him, causing the boy to stumble backwards slightly before being able to recover from shock. _What was that? For some reason, not only Fukiyose does that to me but also, the impact is exactly how I feel when I feel her head butt. But more importantly…_

"The hell! What was that for, Shutaura!?" Kamijou yelled at the raging "Shutaura" as "Fukiyose" can only sigh in irritation as she massages her forehead, which is basically smaller.

"I'll get straight to the point!" the real Shutaura, in Fukiyose's body, finally spoke as she gains attention from the two, "Early in the morning, we found ourselves in a strange circumstances. We have exchanged bodies so I'm the real Shutaura Sequenzia you should be speaking to."

For ten seconds, Kamijou Touma processed everything he had heard. _Eh? They…exchanged…bodies? So this girl in front of me is not Shutaura but it's really our acting class representative Fukiyose? And the one with the larger boobs, large forehead, and pretty face is actually not Fukiyose but Shutaura?_ He then looks at Fukiyose and then at Shutaura and he did that back and fourth for at least five more seconds until…

"Eeehhhhh!?"

Yep, this morning of his would definitely be another long day.

#

After letting the two girls in, Kamijou served them two cans of cold soda and a plate full of cookies, which he managed to save from the monster called Index, who was still eating her breakfast. _Okay, this is damn crazy!_ Kamijou said in his mind as he served his two guests. _How the hell can such a thing happen!?_ He had witnessed other crazy events from his past fight but this was rather new…and quite abnormal. _I just can't visualize Fukiyose in a smaller chest!_

"I know you are quite confused at what happened. I can't blame you for that," Shutaura spoke as she munches her cookies, "But that's what really happened. We have switched bodies and I felt so stunned out by it." Her voice is thorough yet not as rough as her old self, something that Kamijou noticed.

"I…I see," the spiky haired boy nodded awkwardly as he then sat beside the Black Crow leader with Fukiyose's pretty face, "Well…so why did you all want to see me again?"

"Based from what I have seen in the past, you might be able to help us get back to our normal selves," Shutaura didn't skipped a beat as she finished chewing the snack served to them, "I would appreciate if we would be able to come back to our own bodies." She then looked at the boy with a sense of sincerity in pleading for help. Kamijou only sweat dropped as he knew it was actually Fukiyose's eyes that he was looking into despite talking to Shutaura. _Damn it! This is the first time seeing Fukiyose's real eyes go like that._

"Well…I'll see what I can do," the boy said as he looks over her shoulders to see Fukiyose frowning and huffing as she sways her now-jet black hair. _What a strange circumstance._

"So…" Fukiyose, annoyed at how her classmate is actually giving the Block Crow leader more time to speak with, decided to make her presence known as she began to talk, "Before anything else, how the hell did you two exactly know each other?" She had an angry glint in her eye as she notices the two suddenly fidget and froze in what look like they weren't prepared for her question. Until…

"Can we set that aside for a moment?" Shutaura replied in obvious irritation, "We needed to come back to our own bodies first before anything else that's irrelevant." Fukiyose was about to reply back when suddenly, she heard a voice.

"Touma, what's going on?" Index can be heard asking as she then enters the living room and join the people out there, "And who are these people, Touma!?" Her expression changed from slight curiosity to tranquil fury as she then bares out her fangs. Seeing this, Kamijou then immediately stood up and shouted, "This is not what it looks like, Index! We're facing a problem here and it is better if you just keep it down Index!"

The silver-haired nun blinked her eyes and then looked at the two women. _Eh, Touma? Aare they twins? They almost look exactly the same._ "Well, what's the problem, Touma? And I'm hungry so bring me in the restaurant later."

Kamijou rolled her eyes at the request but he ignore it for the moment and said, "Well…this might sound weird but these two girls just switched bodies early in the morning and now, they are asking help on how they can get their bodies back."

For the moment, Index blinked again as she processed what she just heard. After a few more minutes, she then replied, "Touma, how can that be possible? I tried to find a possible explanation in the 103, 000 grimoires but even I can't find any reason for that to happen. Unless if it is a miracle."

Kamijou only sighed at Index's explanation as Shutaura flinched at hearing the very word she used to hate very much from the bottom of her heart. _Miracles._ She used to loathe it after the death of her father but ever since meeting the very boy who is now standing in front of them, her cynicism had changed and she had looked forward to a better life that is free from negativity. _Thank you, Touma-kun._

"Hey, Touma. Why don't you use your right hand, then? It can cancel out any magical or supernatural ability, right?" she heard Index suddenly point out something as the nun glances at the boy's right hand.

"Oh yeah," Kamijou suddenly acts as if he was a fool for not realizing it earlier, "My Imagine Breaker. Well…" He was about to hold Shutaura in her shoulders but stopped when he realized something. _I'm pretty sure Fukiyose would be freaked out with this and another thing, Index said it could be a the work of a miracle. What if it's like the case of Arisa!?_ Nevertheless, he knew it's better to do something right now as he then grasps the shoulders of Shutaura, who didn't react as she knew the power of the boy's right hand from Arisa's memories. She then waited…and waited…and waited…

Until nothing happened. The two didn't even return to their own bodies.

"Okay?" Kamijou felt like he was getting embarrassed as he slowly let's go of the shoulder, which is technically Fukiyose's, "I know I should expect this but still…"

"I think I shouldn't blame you on this," Shutaura said, disguising her words in a way that was still in her own repertoire but had the manner of Arisa's tone, "Maybe it is something that is beyond our human understanding. I understand if you want to help, though."

"What do you mean "beyond human understanding?" Fukiyose, hearing our Shutaura, asked, now quite curious at her wordings, "Only ESP powers are out there…"

"Well…that's where you are wrong…" Shutaura narrowed her eyes towards Fukiyose (and sadly, her own original body), "There really are powers that exist beyond our understanding and even surpass my Esper ability. Right, Touma-kun?"

Hearing her speak about something that _shouldn't_ even be revealed, Kamijou can only stare in confusion as he knew he should say something. _What the hell am I supposed to say at a situation like this!?_ He was about to open his mouth when Index decided to add something as well.

"Yeah, that's right! Magic exists so are sorcerers!" Index pointed out, "Look, Touma even saved me from a bunch of sorcerers. He's a hero who unfortunately keeps butting into the problems of…mmmph!" She was cut off by Kamijou, who rushed in to cover her mouth from spilling out more secrets of his. _Dammit, keep quiet!_ But it was actually too late.

Fukiyose had heard everything unthinkable and judging by how Kamijou acts, it looks all to suspicious to her.

"Wait a minute…" she said in a tone that was quickly darkening, "So let me get this straight, you are doing things outside there that is deemed unsafe and you are keeping this from us? From me?"

"Well…you shouldn't put it like that," Kamijou was forced to defend herself, "As you see, there is no reason for me to help others like what this _talkative_ nun friend of mine said. In fact, I'll be gladly in service to anyone who needs help, even in life and death situations."

For some reason, that answer alone should satisfy the Iron Wall Girl but it just wasn't right for Fukiyose. She processed what he exactly meant by that and as she does, there was one phrase that stood out for her.

 _Life and death._

She couldn't help but feel fear upon what he really meant. It also somewhat shed light on why the boy whom she judged as a lazy bum and oblivious especially to his harem.

"So…what are you saying…"

The fear she felt began to change into another emotion… _rage_.

"The reason your school attendance is very low is that…you can play the role of a vigilante…" She can feel her hands clenching and shaking.

"Well…" Kamijou said in a tone that would either confirm or deny her accusations, "I don't get by what you are saying as vigilante. I'm simply…"

 _Bam!_

Fukiyose attempted to lunge forward towards the surprised boy if it wasn't for Shutaura, who managed to react quickly and hold her original hips as she quickly locks Fukiyose on a tight grip. The latter tried to get out of her bondage she failed miserable.

"You idiot!"

"Eh!? Fukiyose!?" Kamijou was somewhat fearing for his life as he watches the girl deranged in fury, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? I should be the one asking you that!" Fukiyose yelled as she was still struggling to get out of Shutaura's grip, "What do you think Anti-Skill and Judgment are for, huh!? Unlike someone like you, people in those organizations are trained to deal with violations of law and order!"

'I've handled myself just fine," For once, Kamijou didn't waver as she turns to face Fukiyose in Shutaura's face, "And just because they are the proper authorities don't mean they won't miss out any occasions of disturbance in this city. I know it because I have faced such situations before."

"Did you know how dangerous that is, huh!? Engaging in brawls like that can cost your life!" the girl retorted back.

"So what?" Kamijou replied, his posture unwavering, "That doesn't mean I should turn my back on someone who needs help, no matter how dangerous it can be. Call me an idiot or moron or anything you want but you won't stop me from doing anything I can to see people smile at the end of the day."

At once, something hit Fukiyose as the boy's words actually stopped her from struggling so much. _Why is he so goddamn stubborn!? Is he even thinking about the consequences of his actions?_ Then on second thought, she then pondered something else.

 _Would it actually be better if Kamijou is like the other males in our class: careless jocks and sluggish guys who actually wanted nothing more than having a girlfriend._ She was then reminded of a certain reckless pair of blue and yellow who always dragged their friends onto meaningless discussions where he will always end up getting beaten, courtesy of her fists.

Due to Fukiyose suddenly calming down, Shuratura felt that it was safe to let go of the girl. Slowly, she loosens her grip and she lets her slide slowly on the floor. The latter then proceeds to sit down in _seiza_ (a formal sitting term in Japan) on the floor, mumbling something to herself. Once that was done, Shutaura sighs as she faces Kamijou, "Well, I can't believe she's that emotional. But aside from her, now that your right hand can't solve the problem, it looks like we would get stuck like this for the time being."

"Well, you are right," Kamijou said in a loud whisper and suddenly, his voice changed into a hint of joy, "But if something good came out of this, it's the fact that I would be able to experience a far more peaceful life in my school." Shutaura only sighed at this. _He can be untactful sometimes._

"What the hell did you say!?" Fukiyose, hearing what Kamijou said, threatened to stand up and beat him but she was held down on the grip. The boy, meanwhile, gulped as he realized the error in his words.

"But Touma-kun does have a point," Shutaura said, being serious, "If we are going to stay like this for a longer period of time, that means we have to learn how to learn how to live each other's lives. For example, Fukiyose here would have to act like me and lead my men into combat while I learn how to be your class' acting representative."

"Eh? Would that be easy?" Kamijou said in a skeptical look, "I mean, you use variety of weapons such as guns and that special mobile you ride in your operations. I can see you might be able to imitate Fukiyose but vice versa…" He decided to trail off, in fear of provoking the Iron Wall Girl into another fit of rage.

"Well…" Fukiyose, having calmed herself down, spoke in a confident voice, "If we are going to imitate one another, we should teach one another then…wait, there's a problem!"

"And what could that be?"

"Next week would be the start of the Daihaseisai Festivel! I'm part of the High School Committee of Coordination!" She was then worried that this festival which she was looking forward to would be ruined by this current event that happened to her.

"Well…shit…" Shutaura can only shake her head in annoyance, "Well…if that's the case, I think we can have the whole afternoon later as well as tomorrow whole day. I'll be crash coursing you in the basics of self-defense and weapons handling, Fukiyose."

"Huh!?" The _former_ busty girl asked on surprise.

"I'm basically teaching you how to become me," Shutaura repeated in annoyance.

"Well, then good luck," Kamijou said as he felt it's not anymore his business and wanted to back out of this when suddenly, she felt the tight grip of his classmate suddenly preventing him from even moving an inch.

"Who said I'll let you off the hook?" Fukiyose said as she tightens her hold on the boy, "It's best them if you would be coming with us. I need your help then in teaching her how to become me as well!"

"Eh? Me?" Kamijou asked incredulously as he points to himself.

"Yes, _baka_ ," the girl hissed, "Better keep moving on."

Seeing that he had no choice but to follow, Kamijou groaned as eventually, he goes to his room to change into a different set of clothes.


	3. Learning combat - Fukiyose

After being able to change his shirts, Kamijou followed like a metal being attracted by a magnet as he walks behind Shutaura and Fukiyose. Index also decided to come along as she wouldn't want to be left behind and that she also feared at what lunch she would eat if her partner didn't arrive earlier. As they are walking in the streets of District 7, Kamijou began to observe the two women more discreetly and it's only at that moment that they do have some similarities as well as differences.

Both have a similar shape of their faces and hairstyle, except for Fukiyose's exceptionally large forehead. _And they both have a somewhat arrogant personality but with the leadership capability that can control a large swathes of people._ She did remember that he described the two as Class Rep types. Though,of course, there are also differences.

Fukiyose is a few inches taller than Shutaura though Kamijou can't tell if there really is that much difference. _Unless if they are wearing a hat._ And the spiky haired boy personally knew that underneath her tough façade, Fukiyose is very motherly towards their classmates and towards him as well. _Maybe the tough love kind since I always ended up being in the receiving end of her surprisingly strong fists._ He was wondering whether Shutaura is also that kind of person before the fusion but judging how she was relentless in trying to kill him at the Endymion tower, he doubts that was the case. _Maybe she attracted her men through looks and words? She does look like she can charm someone by her aura alone._

Another thing is also the combat capability. Kamijou knew that Fukiyose is no slouch in terms of athleticism and strength but she pales in comparison with the Black Crow Unit leader. Shutaura was very much like a quick cheetah hunting her prey. With her agility and combat skill, she can easily manage to bring down her opponents with ease despite her slim frame and a mere height of 155 cm. But now that they are in each other's body, he can't help but think. _How are they supposed to act like the other when they had different quirks and behavior?_ As much as it's ridiculous to admit it, Fukiyose can be a _loudmouth_ when she was scolding someone (or Kamijou and friends in particular). She's also very _obsessed_ with health products and that she's not to afraid (that's the last thing that comes to mind when it comes to the Iron Wall Girl) to show it off. In contrast, Shutaura's the type to say very short sentences due to her serious nature though she can express openly when angered. _And is she even a fan of health products?_ His classmates might have a hard time believing to see "Fukiyose" stop using health products and phony health foods, saying that it's nothing but crap.

 _And one more thing, Fukiyose got larger breasts than Shutaura. How can she deal with that?_ Kamijou thought as he remembered how large the chests of the Forehead Deluxe is that he can't help but think a few times of fondling them with his bare hands. _Though I won't say that aloud, lest I have a death wish._ He knew that having larger breasts is ironically an inconvenience for Shutaura, who seemed to be a lot conscious due to having Fukiyose's large chest. _Ah, just imagine having a heavy baggage in your body while fighting in a hand-to-hand combat._

"Touma-kun! Hey, Touma!" Shutaura, using Fukiyose's hand, snapped him out of his bumbling thoughts as she smacked him straight in his jaw, "What the hell is wrong with you!? You've been spacing out for almost ten minutes already! We've been nearing the headquarters of the Black Crow Unit and we've been calling you out for some time now."

"Ah? Are we there now?" he dumbly asked, earning an irritated gritting of teeth from Shutaura (in Fukiyose's face) while the real Fukiyose just simply sighed at this. The former was carrying a large bag in her shoulders as they finally sight the large compound that was the home of the Black Crow Unit.

While now under the supervision of the Anti-Skill organization, Shutaura and all of her men retained all their rights that they had before the fiasco at the Endymion tower. This means that their headquarters, weapons, and notably, their three-wheeled mobile weapons aren't confiscated from them and they were still able to continue existing as an organization, albeit on a more traditional role akin to special operating units in the police and military worldwide. Now, the building was quite similar to Judgement's training grounds that it had a wide football field and track-and-field area as well as a large, cream-colored plain building with large windows. However, it's quite militarized as it's also complete with an integrated satellite dish, a hangar, a shooting range, an underground arms and ammunition armory, and a cyber-warfare room.

Seeing that the whole compound was cordoned off by tall, white walls, Fukiyose was about to ask about how is she supposed to get in there when Shutaura already pre-empted her, "We'll all go the nearest store first where Fukiyose can change into a proper Black Crow uniform. Them seeing you in my body with a tight black tank top could be pretty disgusting, especially when faced against perverts." The _formerly_ Forehead Deluxe can only nod as she wasn't able to retort to Shutaura's arguments.

They spotted a nearby convenient store with a washroom in it where the two women can go to. As the two girls went inside the washroom, Kamijou was left sitting in one of the tables of the store as he lets Index roam around the store to find something to eat. While he was waiting, his eyes caught something far weird for him.

A mysterious, tall, white building which literally _no windows_ at all.

 _That's strange._ Kamijou said to himself as he continued to observe the building which is far from his current location but was large enough to be seen. He was so engrossed in looking at the peculiar building that he didn't notice Index, who was carrying a bundle of ice cream, suddenly going up to him, saying, "Touma, Touma! I want this! Buy it for me!" But he didn't hear her cries as he was busy thinking deeply about something else. Being the impatient one that she is, she decided to start by leaping up and biting his head. "Gyaaaah! Index, will you let me go this instant!" Kamijou cried in pain as they are now both in the floor due to the on-going struggle between the two. Only after Index grew tired that she let go of the boy.

"Why the hell did you do that?" the spiky haired boy inquired angrily, "I wasn't even doing anything and yet—"

"It's your fault!" Index retorted, crossing her arms, "You were not even noticing me and…"

"You two are two noisy! Keep it down!"

The two heard the voice of Shutaura, in Fukiyose's pitch as she re-emerges from the washroom with Fukiyose, who is now wearing the catsuit of the Black Crow Leader. She was wobbling awkwardly as this is her first time wearing something so tight and worst, she had to get herself used to holding Shutaura's favourite choice of a sidearm—a Vektor CP1 pistol. The gun felt cold in her hands as she Shutaura to guide her in handling the pistol. Kamijou can't help but stare to Fukiyose (in Shutaura's body) as they now rejoin the two.

"Wh-what are you looking at, Kamijou?" Fukiyose hissed as she was actually getting timid from having to wear something so peculiar.

"W-well, you actually look great although it might be because I already saw Shutaura in her suit," Kamijou deadpanned as he didn't want to get punched by her fists, which can actually get deadly since it's not her real fists but Shutaura's, which means it's coming from the hand of an experienced combatant.

 _Was that supposed to be a compliment coming from BaKamijou?_ Fukiyose didn't want to say it aloud as she was called "great" by someone she devoutly "hates" outwardly.

"Enough chit-chat," Shutaura, in Fukiyose's voice, interrupted them as she takes a sit besides Fukiyose, "Okay. Listen to me. I don't want you making a fool out of me so you better listen and absorbed what I will say." There's a hint of venom and threat in those words that Fukiyose actually shuddered as she shut up at hearing her _own_ voice say those words.

"Once we reach the gate, tell this: **Good morning. We have an emergency training request that we will do until tomorrow Sunday in the evening and these happens to be my guest. Let us in.** And as a precautionary act, show them this." She brings out an Identification Card from her cloth bag and handed it to Fukiyose's—or rather, her own hands. It wasn't an ordinary card; it was made of pure silver and brass stamped with a seal of a head of a crow.

Fukiyose takes it hesitantly as she asks, "And once we go there, what we will do?"

She was looking at her own, real face who seemed to be staring back at her like a mirror, as if telling her that her question is frankly stupid, "We'll train you, what else?" Shutaura replied, quite exasperatedly as it seemed it was taking all the little patience that she had. _And then again, because of Arisa's personality, it might as well clash with my manners._

"Well…" Kamijou spoke up, "Then let's get going, then?"

#

At first glance, the guard who is keeping close watch in the iron-cast gates seemed to have spotted his superior now coming to their headquarters with some group of individuals. Their "Crow Leader" seemed to have invited some guests in their camp though he can't be certain. "Something's off," he whispered to himself as he then kept his assault rifle cocked just in case as he opens his gate to meet that one person who is feared and beloved at the same time in their shadowy organization.

"Good morning, Captain!" the bulky guard mouthed off as a sign of respect as he salutes at "Shutaura", who seemed to be uncertain on what to do until she acted as if she remembered something.

"G-Good morning, Crow 3!" the "Crow Leader" replied as she also salutes back, "We have an emergency training request that we will do until tomorrow Sunday in the evening and these happens to be my guest. Let us in." She also brings out her identification card and shoved it to the face of the guard, who inspects it with surprise. _Eh!? What'd the reason for you bringing out your badge, captain?_ He then swore that he heard one of her companions, who is also a female and slightly looks like "Shutaura," suddenly sigh as if something wrong had happened. He also scans "Shutaura's" guests and he can tell that they look very weird. Aside from the female, she's also with a guy who had spiky black hair and an average build and also there is a silver-haired kid who is wearing a nun costume.

Nevertheless, Crow 3 just shrugged all of it as a result of his lack of sleep. _Yep, maybe I'm just a little fatigued at all._ And he then let them go as they all quietly entered pass the gates. He then went back to his post and quickly laid down his weapon before he went off to sleep.

Not far from his guard post, the group just kept walking and walking briskly as if they are trying to stealthily avoid everyone's attention. Once they finally entered the building, they all went straight to the area reserved for hand-to-hand combat and martial arts training as Fukiyose, who is mimicking Shutaura with the best that she can, finally was able to breathe comfortably as she was heavily perspiring, perhaps from the nervousness she felt the moment she spoke with the guard from the post. "It's official. I really hate this," she muttered to herself but was loud enough to be heard by everyone else.

"It's not like we wanted this to happen," Kamijou replied reasonably as Index, being a stranger to modern technology, was very curious as he eyed a pair of firearms tucked in the wall: a SIG SG 551 assault rifle with a reflex sight and a HK MP5 submachine gun. "Touma, Touma! Why do people in this place use magical staffs in such a way?"

"That's not a magical stave, Index," Shutaura calmly explains as she brings out a two pairs of Kevlar combat gloves and two pairs of white and black tank tops, "It's what we call a gun or a rifle. Authorities in Academy City all have that kind of weapon."

Index blinked as she kept staring at the two weapons, "Hmmm. So these heavily-ornamented iron cocks are being used in beating people black-and-blue?"

"That's not how it works, Index," Kamijou decided to explain it for her as he knew the limited time they have is more important for Fukiyose to learn from Shutaura, "A gun is used by placing a piece of a metal filled which is filled with explosive powder on its metal tube and soldiers blast the bullet to his intended target. It's a different way of fighting as you can fight with it in longer distances unlike a sword or even a spear an arrow which had a limited range and is only seen in knights and…"

"Hey, Touma! Are you saying that the English nobility which uses the great longbow are wimps!?" Index somehow misinterpreted what her partner is saying and got offended.

"I wasn't talking purely about English knights or something!" the spiky haired boy was affronted with such baseless accusation, "I was just merely explaining the advantages of today's firearms over the past's melee combat!"

While the two were bickering, the two women, wearing their sleeveless shirts and combat gloves, seemed to be unmindful of what they are talking about as they now began a Crash Course 101 on how to become the most feared leader in the whole of the Black Crow Unit. Shutaura decided to start by teaching Fukiyose the basics on how to throw down an opponent in close range. "Here, when you are confronted by an unarmed hostile who tries to physically ram you down, a simple throw down would be enough. Here, let me demonstrate it to you." As soon as Fukiyose got closer to Shutaura (and her real body, to her chagrin), the latter immediately got hold of her arms and effortlessly threw her in the floor mat in arch style like how a carpenter pounds a large nail in the ground with a sledgehammer. Fukiyose wasn't that much hurt but was rather shocked from how strong it was. _I never knew I was that light._ Shutaura thought as she had just thrown her real body into the floor. _That's why I can move as fast as a cat._

Afterwards, she had Fukiyose do it on her own. At first, she was falling short of being able to throw down Shutaura, partly due to hesitation and her unfamiliarity with disciplined unarmed combat. While she does have a strong punch as evident with how she hands out punishments particularly to Kamijou and his two idiot friends, they don't fight back as she was their class president. But this is a different matter as Fukiyose had just realized she would have to face off against real criminals and thugs in the streets who are quite adept in street fighting as well as handling real or crude weapons.

But after several trials, Fukiyose was able to catch the real Crow Leader (and her own body) by surprise as she finally was able to make a clean throw down. Satisfied that she fially able to pass this basic movement, Shutaura didn't skip a beat and said, "Okay. Next, we will do some kicking and punches but first, we will stretch for a bit as I'll show you the proper way in kicking your legs in close quarters combat." After that, they finally got into their positions. First, Shutaura showed her how to kick her feet in the air at a specific angle. Fukiyose followed suit and does the same. They went on for the same process for a few times until the _original_ Iron Wall Girl finally learned how to kick high and low against opponents in a fight. Shutaura then proceeded to teach her some basic Judo techniques, including hand-throwing techniques, grappling techniques, body strike techniques, and how to block or parry an attack as well as to receive or break a bad fall.

"She's not doing bad," Kamijou, who was just on one end of the corner, whispered to himself as he watches the two women spar against each other, "Fukiyose's actually holding her own against Shutaura. But then, she's really strong to begin with and smart as hell. Another factor is the fact that she's on _another_ body which is trained and shaped harshly to be combat-ready. So it's not really surprising."

"What are you saying, Touma?" Index, who was sitting beside him while eating vanilla ice cream she bought, asked in a rather rude manner.

"Ah…sorry if I was talking to myself," Kamijou sheepishly apologized, "It's just that Fukiyose's actually learning fast or rather, she might have learned a thing or two before. I don't know."

 _Bam!_

After a grueling match, Fukiyose managed to finally knock down Shutaura (and her original body) to the ground after getting trampled in their first two sparring sessions. It helped that she was able to adjust herself to her new body. _Shutaura's body is slimmer and more agile, as much as I hate to admit it and I love my own body so much._ After that, the two then went to the sidelines to get some rest and instantly, their eyes land upon Kamijou, who just stared back at them.

"Eh…what's wrong?" the boy asked like he was some lost child.

"Get us some water," Shutaura softly ordered him despite sounding like an imperative order. Despite wanting to protest, the boy saw that they were tired as hell and their hair looks so haggard from perspiring so profusely so he decided to really get them some drinks. The problem is…

"Well, where do I get some drinks?"

Shutaura then took out her badge and gave it to Kamijou, saying, "Get out of this training room and go to the left side. Just walk on and on until you finally find a water dispenser and some glass. Now, hurry up and when one of my men asks who you are, just tell that you have my permission and you have the badge as some kind of consent." The boy wasted no time dilly-dallying and he got up to his feet to go outside of the training room. As instructed, he walked into his left side until he finally found the water dispenser. But unfortunately, someone else is already there. Before the boy can even move further, the man, with a tall and well-built body and swept back brown hair, spotted him with his sharp vision and immediately interrogates him.

"Huh? I knew you face, kid," the man said in a sharp tone, "Why are you here?"

"Uhm…it's because your team leader invited me here to her training…" Kamijou decided not to use a given name for fear that he might get accused of breaching professionalism, "And here's her badge. I was tasked to get some water for her." Without further ado, he then gets two glass cups from the tray besides the dispenser and he began to fill them with water, unmindful of the man who was standing there and continued watching him. He didn't take his eyes off the spiky haired boy, who was done filling those glass cups and proceeded to walk briskly away from him. After a few minutes, he was back with the three women, who were all lying exhausted on the floor.

"What happened, Touma-kun? You looked like you were chased by some kind of deadly force, "And thanks for bringing the drinks."

"Some kind of weird man with brown, swept-back hair was looking at me like I'm supposed to be a criminal or what," Kamijou recounted as he then puts down the tray in the floor, "He asked me why am I here and I just responded as what you have said so I don't even know what hell is wrong with him."

"Must be Crow 7," Shutaura muttered under her breath as she drinks.

"Huh? What?"

"Ah, forget it," Shutaura just smiled (which made Fukiyose look amaze that she can actually look much prettier with that smile) as she puts down her glass, "Okay, since she's a rather fast progress in unarmed combat, she'll be fine by the time we polish everything tomorrow. For now, let's switch to weapons handling." _And I hindsight, I should have realized her breasts are nothing more than an impediment to my movements._

"You mean using a gun, right?" Kamijou asked.

"Not only that," Shutaura clarified as she stands up and walks to the wall, where she takes a combat knife, "This will come in handy in times of stealth missions and lack of ammo."

#

After the hand-to-hand unarmed combat, Shutaura and Fukiyose then moves on to their next target of practice: basic handling of firearms. Holding the Vektor CP1 pistol, Fukiyose felt like the cold handle of the weapon is so foreign for her since this is actually her first time holding a gun, much less firing it. Right now, they are in the shooting range where it is luckily deserted as of the moment as everyone of the Crows are in the underground basement either doing some inventory check on their armory or doing some paper works. The first time Fukiyose fired a pistol, she was startled by the recoil and loud bang that she staggered a bit backwards. Luckily, Kamijou was able to catch her before she even falls to the ground. The boy felt like catching a backpack due to how _lighter_ Fukiyose has become. The latter became flustered that he actually caught her before she even lands on the floor before she let her instincts come in and she growled, "Let go off me, Kamijou." She growled.

 _Can't you at least be nicer?_ The boy said in his mind as he then let go off the girl, who proceeds to fire another round. After getting some advice from Shutaura, Fukiyose manage to get a tighter grip on the gun as she further trains her sharpshooting so that it can be pretty accurate. "You're doing fine now," Shutaura commented after she hit all her targets. "Now, let's use an assault rifle."

Now this is a different story. Fukiyose had an easier time practicing with a pistol due to its compact size and smaller cartridge. But training with a rifle proved to be more challenging. First, the recoil of the larger gun was understandably powerful that Fukiyose felt like she got kicked by the hooves of a horse. "Just get used to it," Shutaura simply said to her when she complained that it was too heavy for her to use, "You'll eventually be able to adjust to its weight." After that, the real Black Crow leader teaches her student-like self on how to shoot while lying down on the floor (a.k.a a prone shooting) as well as other shooting positions like sitting (supporting both arms on the inside of your legs), standing which the trainee is having a hard time, and kneeling, which supports one arm on the top of the leg. At first, she was having a hard time getting an accurate shot due to her not being used to such situations and she kept twisting her body as she changes her position to make herself more comfortable. But after a few pointers from her teacher, she was able to make clean shots as she was able to adjust to the recoil and weight of the assault rifle.

Later, the two moved on a mock shooting area which serves as some kind of simulation close quarters combat for the Black Crows. Fukiyose then began to navigate her way through the maze-like simulation room with Shutaura as her guide at her back as she takes out her targets.

 _At this rate, things would be fine, I guess._ Kamijou sighed as he knew there is still a final training for the two tomorrow Sunday morning. _Instead of being able to do something that I want, I'm pretty sure I'll be dragged again tomorrow so there's no point in resisting. Just my luck._


	4. Final Preparations

**REPLIES**

 **Bluejack222 – Yep. Thanks for reading it and I hope you enjoy the next chapters.**

 **Nguyen Than Long – Thanks a lot! I hope you do enjoy the next chapters.**

 **fencer29 – Uh…I'll just keep in mind what you said. But for the firearms, even Anti-Skill uses SIGs, albeit the one used by SoF operators with Trijicon aimpoints. (In the Manga version of Index and Railgun, they use MP5s). And I apologise if I kinda forget that Fukiyose's not the class president as well as my English grammar, which is actually not my strong point since it's not my first language.**

 **TheLastSterling – Thanks and I'll try to come up with longer chapters.**

 **WasuWasu – There are a lot of fics about Misaka already (no, I don't hate her) so I decided to veer away from that for now. And yeah, don't expect much since it's better if you're surprised.**

 **Fortitude501 – Please just PM me hahaha**

* * *

Fukiyose sat on her—or Shutaura's—bed, breathless. Her arms and legs felt like they were turning into jello. She and Shutaura were constantly at it, practicing and sharpening her martial arts and weapons handling which is helped by the fact that the muscle memory of the Crow Leader was retained in her original body, which is occupied by Fukiyose. It was already night time and she needed to rest. Luckily, one of the maids at the apartment complex already brought in the room her food and some hot tea as she sits down on her bed while wrapping her arms with a hot towel. _I better get a relaxing bath after this._

She was told that she would be fine as someone who can pass of as Shutaura Sequenzia perfectly as long as she doesn't do anything that is very out of character for the former, whose contrasting identities is still very much unknown to the Forehead Deluxe. Nevertheless, she is still mystified by the fact that the two knew very each other and, in her words, in a very intimate and personal way. _Just who the hell she really is and how does she knows Kamijou?_ Fukiyose can't help but think about it as they seemed to be pretty much comfortable speaking with one another that it makes her cringe as innocent bystanders would think it was _her_ who was speaking with the boy.

After eating her supper, she then proceeded to go to the bathroom, where she began filling up the Jacuzzi with warm water to the brim. As she dips herself into the liquid to relieve the tensions and aches in her body, she can't help but think how Shutaura would fare once she goes to their school as Fukiyose Seiri. _Considering she's a combatant and quite a disciplined one, she might be able to bring peace to our class._ By peace, she means shutting up the idiot trio of Kamijou and his two troublesome friends who goes by the names Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Aogami Pierce. _But knowing that she is very much close with that idiot Kamijou, would she really hit him?_ And ironically, she had to admit that seeing the so-called Delta Force be quiet for once would be pretty much be awkward for someone even for her as the sight of their shenanigans has somewhat become a usual scene in their class.

After finishing taking a warm bath, she dried herself before putting on Shutaura's sleeping clothes—or anything she sees as something she can use as night clothes as she discovered that the _former_ slim woman was actually used to sleeping in only her training bra and some black underwear—which she herself discovered when she woke up in her body back in the morning. Afterwards, she sat on the bed, which was slightly larger than hers in the student dorms, and began to wonder what she'll even teach to Shutaura. _I mean, she looks like someone who wouldn't take any bullshit from someone and that Kamijou is actually there to guide her. Wait…that seemed so wrong._ She didn't want everyone in the class to think that she—or Shutaura—and that 'idiot' are going out together. She had too much pride for it and besides, there's a reason why she's called the Iron Wall Girl.

 _There are a lot of things to work on._ She sighed as she her eyelids became heavy and soon, she is snoring very loudly

#

It wasn't even 4:00 in the morning when Shutaura, in Fukiyose's body, woke up and began to do her usual exercises he always do—except that he has to adjust herself in Fukiyose's heavy chest. _Does she drink too much Musashino milk or what?_ She was slightly irritated over her boobs despite accepting the situation that they'll be stuck in each other's current bodies for an unspecified length of time. She sighed as she gets ready for the day before eventually going to the Black Crow HQ to polish and teach Fukiyose any remaining things she needed to learn—and that includes driving her own mobile heavily customized to suit her needs.

She groaned as she makes her own simple breakfast of cereals and hot tea. It's not that she didn't know how to prepare food but it's just that she is used to have someone cook for her. _So this is what life is for a low-level Esper._ Speaking of Esper levels, she was also worried that everyone in the Black Crow Unit, especially Crow 7, would notice that she—Fukiyose—is not using her Earth Palette ability. Since Esper powers are conceived from their own Personal Reality, it might not work with Fukiyose even if she is now occupying Shutaura's body since they have a different realities—and in the case of Shutaura, her growth and brain's calculating ability is that of a Level 4. _And she's a Level 0 so I don't think it will work on her._ She secretly prayed that she would be able to pull-off a good stunt and that they don't need to get involve in a lot of matters in the city.

After eating, Shutaura proceeded outside of the student dormitory to do her usual morning routine. The routine for the early day included running at nine miles, 250 sit-ups and pushup a piece, and hand to hand combat training in the open air. This morning routine of hers lasted for about 3 hours, with an hour and a half dedicated to just the unarmed combat. If there is any difference, it's just that she conditioned herself in fighting with Fukiyose's large boobs.

After her routine was finished, Shutaura headed back towards the student dormitory. She turned on the hot water and stripped completely naked. Stepping into the shower, a slight smile appeared on her face. She could feel the hot water envelope her and relax her tired muscles. After showering, she dried herself completely and wore Fukiyose's physical education t-shirt, jogging pants, and her jersey jacket as she goes out of the dormitory to go to the male dormitory quarters where Kamijou Touma and Index stays. Suddenly feeling excited for no reason (or that she expected it because of Arisa's personality within her personality), she picked up her speed as she sprinted in the streets towards the Kamijou Residence. Going up through the elevator, she then walked to the room of the spiky haired boy and then knocked loudly. After a minute, the door opened, revealing a still-sleepy Kamijou whose eyes were drowsy and his bed hair quite messy.

"Yoyu're early, Shutaura," Kamijou said in a lethargic way as she lets her inside, "Well, I just woke up right now so I apologize for the late notice. Let me cook some breakfast."

"Uhm…" Shutaura was very much pretty shy to admit it but she wanted to help the boy when she noticed that there were a lot of unclean plates on their sink in the kitchen, "Well…do…do you want to help…I mean…I help you…wash the dishes?" She spoke in her usual gruff voice—which physically, belongs to Fukiyose—but there is a hint of a _tsundere's_ unspoken feelings.

"Uh…thanks but I'll do it myself," Kamijou smiled as he noticed she was blushing very profusely. _Is she sick or something? It must be from the training yesterday._ "Hey, do you want me to make you some hot ginseng tea? You look like you are about to faint or something."

"Uh…no…no!" Shutaura was wresting back control as she suddenly grabs a dirty dish and slaps Kamijou's cheeks before the latter can even protest, "I'll just help you with the plates so you can immediately start cooking!"

The spiky haired boy felt relieved that at least, for one day, there is someone who could finally help him with the household chores in his dormitory. _I hope someone there follows Shutaura's example._ He groaned as he takes a glance at the sleeping Index, who was still snoring in what should be his bed. Brushing it off aside, he then puts on his apron as he prepares to cook their breakfast of the day. Taking out cold rice, garlic, and eggs from the refrigerator, he began to heat the stove as he prepares some cooking oil and butter. After heating the pan, he then started cooking fried rice by putting butter and garlic on the hot oil and while it makes the garlic golden brown, he poured egg and the rice and began to mix it thoroughly as the rice began to be cooked.

As Kamijou was busy cooking, Shutaura can't help but observe the boy closer with interest. _He got some pretty good culinary skills._ She thought to herself as she began wiping the dirty plates. Through Arisa's memory fused into hers, she remembers that Index was actually a very lazy one when it comes to doing household chores but when it comes to anything supernatural, she is very reliable and helpful.

After cooking the fried rice, Kamijou proceeded to cook and prepare some scrambled eggs, bacon, left-over chicken from last night, and toasted bread which he all laid in the table just in time to see Shutaura finishing washing the plates while Index had woken up just in time, probably because the smell and fragrance of breakfast had reached her nostrils and she rose up like adrenaline had ruched in her veins.

"Touma! I'm hungry! Let's all go grab some breakfast!" she said as she immediately seats on the table. Kamijou only sighed at this as in hindsight, he was already used to the nun sitting first on the table the moment food is served. "Yeah, yeah, Index. Breakfast is about to be served. Oh, how about you, Shutaura? Let's all eat food together while Fukiyose isn't around yet."

"I have already eaten," the woman declined as she just contented herself with just sitting on the couch while waiting for Fukiyose to arrive. As the two eat, Shutaura then began to plan ahead as she wants their training to finish as early as afternoon so she can immediately take some crash-course lectures as well. _That Daihaseisai festival is already starting tomorrow and I'd be dead if I mess up at the high school committee._ Suddenly, she heard a loud knock on the door and she surmised that it must be the Iron Wall Girl so she stands up and opens the door, revealing a very much prepared Fukiyose as evident that she is now wearing her Black Crow cat suit as well as her own pistol and combat knife. "You seemed to be fully prepared," Shutaura said as she lets her inside, "Don't worry. I'll just correct some of your hand-to-hand combat basics and we'll be finished training with my mobile by the time early afternoon has arrived. That is if you cooperate closely and seriously."

:I know that," Fukiyose said in an irritated tone, "It's just irritating to not be able to know how much longer we will be have to be stuck with each other's body."

"It's not like I want it to happen," the real Crow Leader sighed as she shrugs, "For as long as time will tell, we'll simply have to adjust to this kind of unfair life."

#

After the pair of Kamijou and Index had eaten their breakfast (or more like with Index gobbling three-fourths of what the spiky haired boy prepared), the four then set out on a sunny Sunday for the last day of Fukiyose's training—or at least, that's what Shutaura is trying to achieve. After all, she saw that the girl currently occupying her body is a fast learner and she has placed confidence in her taking on a law enforcement duty and peacekeeping activity. _I do hope she makes a good impression in front of Crow 7 and the rest of my men out there._

While they were walking, Shutaura found herself walking much closer with Kamijou, who seemed to not mind her as he simply continued looking on the road ahead of them. Feeling a strange aura around the boy, the girl was somewhat beginning to get attracted to him—much like how a magnet attracts an iron nail. Unconsciously, she suddenly holds the right hand of the boy, who jolted form what she did. "Eh…Shutaura? Is there a problem?" Kamijou asked as he didn't let go of her hold.

Finally realizing what she just did, she abruptly lets go of his hand and stuttered, "I…I was just thinking a lot of things and I must have been out of focus recently. Don't take this wrong!" She shouted as she shows her fists.

"Uh…okay. If that's what you say so," Kamijou shrugged off her defensive response as he thought something. _Just what the hell is up with her? Is she in love with some random guy out there or is she just asking something from me?_ Unknown to the two (or perhaps they ignore it), Fukiyose saw everything that transpired and for some reason, she is beginning to feel a mixed feelings of confusion, anger, and jealousy. _Why am I feeling like this!? Why am I getting mad that she managed to hold his hand despite the fact that it's technically my hand!?_ Drowned in her deepest thoughts, she didn't realize that they were nearing the Black Crow Unit's headquarters.

"It seems like we're here," Shutaura cleared her throat as she then looks at both Kamijou and Fukiyose, "Well, we better get started so Fukiyose…huh…Fukiyose?" She glances at the mentioned girl, who seemed to be dazed for some reasons and her eyesight was anywhere but straight. It looks amusing for the spiky haired boy but knowing that time is running out for the two of them, he walks closer to the non-attentive woman and poked her shoulders, "Hey, Fukiyose, uhm…we're here now!"

"Huh? What?" As if just awaking from trance, Fukiyose began to scan the whole area and indeed, they were already in the place where they'll finish her training course. "Ah…we're here already."

"That was what I'm trying to tell you," Shutaura said in an irritated manner as she motions Fukiyose to go and be the first one to enter the gates as she was bearing her face. Nodding quickly, the Iron Wall Girl then straightened her posture as she walks calmly towards the guarded gates while the other three followed her in a straight line.

After finally being able to enter the building, the four immediately proceeded to the gymnasium where they held their first session yesterday. After entering the area, Shutaura and Fukiyose instantly changed their clothes from their respective suits to their sparring equipment as the former began to lecturing the latter further. As the two began throwing each other down on the floor, Kamijou and Index then began discussing about what just happened during the past weeks even before the start of the Endymion incident. Index can't help but recall about her partner's decision to go alone and unarmed against Agnese Sanctis' military force in Orsola's Church and Kamijou responded by saying if he didn't do that, then chances are the air-headed nun would have died in their hands.

"But at least, you should have asked for my help first," the silver-haired nun grumbled as she clenches her fists, "I could have helped you deal with them much easier."

"If I recall correctly, someone told me not to involve myself anymore," Kamijou sighed as he was indirectly pertaining to Index herself and the sinister Necessarius priests and sorcerer Stiyl Magnus, "But still, I can't just let—"

"Enough, Touma! You're stupid!" Index huffed as she stomps on the boy's foot hard, causing the latter to winch in pain, "Because of your hard-headedness, buy me some vanilla ice cream topped with Hershey chocolate and cherries!"

"Huh!? Since when does a sister like _you_ ask for such extravagant—"

"We're finished…"

Kamijou and Index stopped their bickering as they heard the voice of Shutaura coming behind them. Turning around, the spiky haired boy saw that they look haggard and sweaty as they seemed to be pretty finish in their polishing of unarmed combat. Though…

"Uhm…that was pretty fast," Kamijou commented as his _playful_ eyes landed on Fukiyose's—or Shutaura's—large breast as well as their bare shoulders, which were glazed with their sweat. _Sh-shit! I'm dead!_ Kamijou can feel his boner suddenly raising up as he fought his urge to imagine some dirty things. _Dammit! I have to control this or they'll kill me if they caught me!_

"Are you okay, Touma-kun?" Shutaura raised her eyebrows at the strange behavior that the boy is exhibiting, "It looks like you're getting out of your mind."

"He's always insane, to begin with," Fukiyose whispered but was loud enough for the boy to hear, who grimaced being insulted but decided to let it slide now.

"Okay so where will we go next, Shutaura?" Kamijou gathered himself up and asked.

"The hangar where our mobiles are being kept and maintained," Shutaura explains, "She'll be always using my customized mobile whenever she'll go out for a mission or a confidential operation so she needs to learn how to drive and maneuver it very well since it's very slick and so agile that it's not that easy to drive that thing without proper training."

#

After resting for a bit, the four then proceeded to the hangar, which is at the farther end from the main building as the immediate area after the main office is the cyber-warfare room and control room where intelligence reports and surveillance are being done with the help of the large satellite dish installed in its roof. As they began to walk in the corridor, they passed by Crow 7, who was somewhat surprised to see "Shutaura" bring in some guests inside. Nevertheless, he salutes.

"Good morning, leader!" Crow 7 greeted as he didn't take his eyes off from Kamijou, who quickly sweat dropped at this.

"G-Good morning too, Crow 7! I'll be on my way to the hangar with…uh…my guests!" the woman who is "Shutaura" exclaimed as she walks faster and by immediately, the other three followed suit. _Did she just hesitated her speech?_ Crow 7 can't help but be slightly surprised as she watches the four leave from his sight. As far as he can remember, Shutaura is that one person who'll say few and straight words when speaking to them in a serious business.

At the end, he shrugged it off as he felt that something isn't wrong. If only he knew better though.

Meanwhile, the four kept walking and walking until the real Shutaura tells Fukiyose to exit the building through a special exit door and when they did, they found themselves being surrounded by a large room which is divided by a large glass wall. It seems that this is the hangar that Shutaura is talking about as they can see wheels, gears, stealth paint, normal black paint, some welding tools, and other extra parts all covered and sealed in plastic bags. On the other side of the room, all of the three-legged mobiles of the Black Crows are stored there but more than that, the larger mobile weapon of Shutaura is also there, which stands out among the vehicles stored.

"An eight-legged mobile weapon designed around around the image of a marine organism moving around smoothly in the city, it is larger and has many more tools at my disposal—or yours for this time," Shutaura explained as she leads the group deeper in the room and towards the opposite side of the glass wall, "It is stealthy and can withstand up to 3000°C of flames as well as drive smoothly in urbanized areas."

As soon as they were all near the eight-legged mobile, Shutaura then props it open and rode on it, saying, "Touma-kun, open the doors of the hangar quickly so I can get this out." Complying, the spiky haired boy then ran off to the doors, which are actually sliding doors that are pulled and pushed vertically. After opening the hangar of the doors, Kamijou gave a go signal for the vehicle to be brought out, Shutaura then slowly started its engines and began to move it slowly and smoothly as so not to attract unwanted attention from Crow 7 and the few men who are in duty on that same day. As she was bringing it outs, her grievances against Fukiyose's boobs have only become stronger as she felt herself getting suffocated by the large chests as she is driving the vehicle almost in a horizontal manner. _May I cut these breasts of hers now!?_

After being able to bring out the vehicle, she reopens the door that is doubling as a canopy and got out of it. "Fukiyose, go in first," Shutaura said seriously. Not wanting to waste their time, the _former_ Forehead Deluxe simply complied as she climbs the vehicle and enters on it. She clumsily lies down on the driver's seat as she found herself surrounded by a lot of digital buttons, switches, a military joystick, and firing ports for Shutaura's Earth pellets—which would be useless for the time being that Fukiyose would take over. _Th-These controls are so complicated!_

"Yes, these controls are quite complicated in the hands of an amateur," Shutaura seems to read her mind as she jumps inside, causing whatever space left inside the mobile to be occupied quickly as Fukiyose began to feel her own, real boobs pressing behind her spine, "But if you listen to me like a good student, then I assure you that in the end, controlling this machine would be as easy as cutting a piece of cake."

Fukiyose frowned at the tone of her voice, as if suggesting that she is a toddler or a pre-schooler.

"Now, the first thing you should to is learning how to drive these basically," Shutaura said as she points to a set of buttons on her left arm and the joystick on the right side, "The buttons is basically the on/off of the mobile as well the accelerator and decelerator of the vehicle's speed. The joystick serves two purposes: maneuvering the vehicle to its right direction and to use it for firing its coaxial guns as it also had a button on it." She flips the cover of the joystick, which reveals a red cylindrical button on the head. "Supposedly, there is also a port here that utilizes by Esper power of Earth Palette but…"

"Because we switched bodies, even I cannot use that ability of yours?" Fukiyose clarified.

"Yes, that's it." Shutaura sighed as she knew it would be much more convenient if the one who switched with her body can user Earth Paletter as well. "But this will have to do for now. Okay, press the button over there."

Fukiyose merely followed her instruction and she pressed the square button in the sets. Immediately, the sound of the engine revving is heard.

"Next, you then either pull of push that joystick so you can move your vehicle from left to right or forward to backward," Shutaura explains as she then narrows her eyes, "Let's take you to a test drive, shall we?"

Fukiyose low-key gulped as she knew she had a lot of work to do if she wants to at least pass this course of being able to drive perfectly without leaving a scratch or a dent to the vehicle.

#

From 11 am up to almost 2 pm early in the afternoon, Shutaura and Fukiyose did nothing but to train the latter in using her eight-legged mobile. It was very disastrous at first; Fukiyose accidentally pushed a button and suddenly, this caused the mobile to pick up speed much faster and in her inability and panic to control the vehicle, she nosedived towards the sitting pair of Kamijou and Index, who was just watching the whole practice session on a bench. Seeing the vehicle suddenly plunge into their direction, the two barely managed to get out of its way as the mobile nearly got wrecked into the wall had not Shutaura calmed Fukiyose down and told her what to do.

They trained on how to climb the mobile in a tall wall as they used the main building as a simulation. Somehow, Fukiyose got it correctly after many tries since she always tends to either end up almost vomiting from dizziness or let her panic get into her. But with Shutaura guiding her, she managed to eventually overcome her anxiety and soon, she was starting to even float the whole vehicle in the air as she is now getting used to its controls, whose uses were all lectured by Shutaura while they were training. Eventually, she also quickly learned how to fire its gun pods with the joystick as they used all the practice dummies in the football field as targets for the firing of the weaponry.

After final practice session for Fukiyose, the latter then began to slow down as she smoothly lands the mobile on the ground in front of the hangar. She then opens the canopy as she and Shutaura emerge. After they had gotten out of the mobile, she almost collapsed and vomited as she was feeling dizzy and shaken up by the experience of flying and driving the mobile. Shutaura helped her stand up by putting her left arm around her neck as they eventually face Kamijou and Index, who were both relieved that their day as a third and fourth wheel has come to end.

"As of now, there are no issues that I see," Shutaura said as she looks at the very much famished Fukiyose, who look like she just got the shock of her life, "She'll just have to adjust to it little by little. Okay, I'll admit that I'm quite hungry now. Let's go get some late lunch."

"Yeah. I'm starving quite a bit from just watching you two train so intensely," the spiky haired boy confessed, "Well, Index, let's all eat now."

"Yay!"

Unknown to the four of them, Crow 7 was secretly watching from the windows as he was very much surprised that his "leader" and some kind of high school student took what looks like a free ride in her mobile—or that's what looks like to him.

 _Something's now right._

He decided though that he'll leave it as now for the moment. _Maybe I'll just wait for the right time to ask some questions from the Crow Leader._

#

Right now, they are all in Julian Restaurant where they are currently eating some late lunch. Both Shutaura and Fukiyose are eating light meals of rice and vegetables while Kamijou was eating chicken curry. But it was Index who was currently the biggest eater of them all as she had her partner order some three pieces of ham sandwich, roasted pork belly, Java rice, meatballs, and some vegetable salad, all of which she greedily gobbled in just a matter of seconds.

"Relax, Index," Kamijou tried to calm her very wild stomach, "You might end up choking while eating."

While the two eventually argue, Fukiyose then started talking to Shutaura as the latter was drinking some cold water, "Okay, since my training is finished and I have learned everything I need to know, it's time I lecture you on how to become a good representative of the class."

"Well…" Kamijou suddenly butted in as he was shielding himself from the fangs of Index, "You might want to add _de facto_ since Aogami's the real representative."

"Sh-Shut up!" Fukiyose stammered as she tried to get grip of control, "He wasn't even doing anything so I was forced to do it by myself!"

"So you're not the real class representative?" Shutaura rose her eyebrows as she puts her chin above her hand, "Very well then, I'll just have to force whoever is this Aogami dude to actually do his job seriously for once."

"Wait…you can't be saying that you'll use lethal force against him?" Kamijou was somewhat terrified at the idea that an angry Shutaura with Fukiyose's face can end up actually cutting short Aogami's life and if possible, Tsuchimikado's as well.

"If it's necessary, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't," Shutaura defended her would-be actions as she once again turns her attention to Fukiyose, "So you're the fake class representative as well as a member of Daihaseisai's high school committee? Sounds like a pain in the ass. Well, I better get this job done once and for all. Hand me the schedule of the games."

Fukiyose then took out a brochure of the Daihaseisai Festival and a small notebook with its schedule, saying, "You'll simply have to act as normal and serious like you don't tolerate idiots in the class." Shutaura rolled her eyes at this. _That's small fry compared to what I do._

"Also," Fukiyose then took out a picture of a familiar _miko_ as she places it in front of the real Black Crow, "Please, get along with this classmate of ours. She's Himegami Aisa and I call her by her given name since she's my best friend."

"Now, I had to play the role of a cheesy, caring mother," Shutaura grumbled as she takes the picture for her to remember Himegami's face.

"Also, I strongly recommend that you put this guy," Fukiyose rudely points at the startled Kamijou, who was about to protest what she'll say, "And his three idiotic friends with blonde and blue hair under your tight leash."

"H-Hey! That was a bit too much!" Kamijou didn't know why he is getting this harsh treatment.

Ignoring the spiky haired boy's cries, Fukiyose continued to rant on, "If they do something that is a disgrace to our class, you must tort—I mean you must discipline these three idiots by brutal methods."

 _Hey, you almost said torture there!_ Kamijou cried mentally as suddenly, Shutaura spoke up, "Okay, I get the high school thing and the disciplinary thing but don't you think that it's too much to actually subject Touma-kun to such harsh measures. I don't know what he actually does in class but…"

"But what!? You don't know what savagery he does in class," Fukiyose argues.

"Is that so?" Shutaura put on a challenging glare. Remembering how the boy saved her from being hit by a rock caused by the explosion at Arisa's concert and through the latter's memories, she remembered how the boy also stood up against her deranged alter-ego just to save her true, other half, she knew branding the boy as a savage is somewhat too much even for her. "Okay, I get it that I don't know what he does in class. But that must also mean you don't know much about what he does outside of school.

Grasping the meaning of her words, Fukiyose then was reminded of what the spiky haired boy said yesterday in the morning when they first went to him to solve their peculiar dilemma. _Okay, I need to calm down now. It seems Shutaura is siding with him at this point._

"F-Fine, but that doesn't mean he'll be spared if he does anything stupid," Fukiyose mentally face-palmed as she was very much aware that while the boy is currently displaying a blank face, he was internally celebrating at the fact that he won't be getting a lot of German Suplex attacks and headbutts for now.

"That's a done deal," Shutaura said as Kamijou was somehow happy that he can live his life in school without getting in trouble for the non-sense Tsuchimikado and Aogami are always spewing without warning., even if its temporary.

Before they eventually split towards their respective residences, Fukiyose pulled aside the spiky haired boy and whispered, "Kamijou, just guide her tomorrow even if it looks like she knows what to do. I'll try to involve myself and my would-be men as security escorts around the whole area just in case something happens during the duration of the games."

"Yeah…" the boy answered before he and Index goes to their own way home.


	5. The Daihaseisai

The Daihaseisai Festival

It was basically a week-long athletics competition that took place from September19-25 at Academy City, which was located in western Tokyo. The meet gathered all the schools in the city together, which meant that in that place of esper powers research where eighty percent of the total population of just under 2.3 million people consisted of students, it was not an event to be taken lightly or to be neglected, especially when the pride of one's school is at stake. Each year, Academy City is packed with tourists and the students' parents during the week of the competition. The city-wide sports meet is broadcast worldwide, with ratings comparable to even the World Cup. Because of this, it's not an exaggeration to suggest that the Daihaseisai is an inherently viable political and propaganda tool for Academy City.

The day was September 19th, the first day of the festival.

Even though it was just early in the morning, the city was already filled with the families of the festival participants. If the board of directors hadn't prohibited travel by car as part of their plans to deal with all the visitors, the congestion would probably extend for tens of kilometers within the city. Since it would otherwise be faster just to walk at a time like this, they were temporarily increasing the number of running trains and subways, as well as preparing unmanned shuttles throughout the city. Everywhere one looked, it was like a station platform at rush hour,

"Ohh, Mother. No matter how many times I see it, it really is overwhelming, this Academy City. It feels kind of like the expansive world I'd draw with crayons when I was a kid. If only there were trains running through tubes and flying skateboards, it would be perfect..."

The one speaking was Kamijou Touya, the father of a certain spiky haired boy who goes by the name Kamijou Touma, who just had one of his weirdest moments in his life just last Saturday and yesterday. The older Kamijou was wearing plain slacks and a business shirt with his sleeves rolled all the way up to his shoulders. His impractical tie that seemed to have been a gift remained loose, and leather shoes stomped along with a merciless sound.

"Oh my, oh my. I don't think this place is even close to how I imagined the future. There aren't any galactic battle cruisers, or wars against alliances or empires of humanoid species, or red and blue lasers flying through space that give off 'pyu, pyu' sounds even though it's supposed to be in a vacuum, right? And I also want to see those sabers that glow like a lamp..."

The one who replied was the Imagine Breaker user's mother, Kamijou Shiina . She looked half Touya's age and even their clothes made them seem incompatible. She was wearing a one-piece dress possibly made of silk or some other delicate materials that looked extremely smooth and reached down to her ankles. On top of that she wore a cardigan. In her arms she was holding the handle of a basket that probably contained their boxed lunches, including those for their supposedly unfortunate son.

Just then, someone crossed in front of them.

A girl in a maid uniform was sitting on an automatic cleaning robot that looked like a drum. Similar to a salesgirl at a baseball stadium, she had a tray on her stomach that was supported by a cord around the back of her neck.

She was none other than the famous Tsuchimikado Maika, the maid whose half-brother is known as a blonde backstabber, a nickname known only to a few.

"Hey! Maid lunches, would you like one of Academy City's famous maid lunches?" Maika shouted as the robot she was riding to was weaving through the thick crowd, "Anyone want a boxed lunch from the Ryouran Maid School or rather made by a maid-in-training—"

As the couple watched dumbfounded at the odd sales pitch, the cleaning robot carrying the maid silently ran off. Moreover, considering that she was calling it a maid lunch, it seemed more like a _toshikazu_ -styled lunch instead.

However, due to Kamijou Touya not even paying attention to his path, he ended up crashing into someone.

"S-Sorry…huh?"

"I'm sorry, that was my fault!"

The one apologizing seemed to be a female college student, at least in terms of physical appearance. She was wearing a faded grey business uniform with loose buttons and long black pants. However, in contrast with her attire, she didn't give off a considerably harsh aura, but somehow the woman gave the impression of a delinquent being forced to dress up for an occasion. She was the complete opposite of Touya.

The woman Touya ran into put on a friendly smile.

"Woul you happen to know where Tokiwadai Middle School is from here?" Her seemingly innocent voice is enough to put the older Kamijou into an adrenaline surge as he quickly pulls out his map.

"Uh…Just a moment…" Touya said as he looks at the map, "Tokiwadai…Tokiwadai…It's not here. Maybe it isn't open to the public…"

"Eh, seriously?" The young woman said in a hysterical way as she looks at the map, "Then where on earth is Mikoto-chan?"

"Is this Mikoto-san a sister of yours?"

However, even before Touya got her reply, it seems something else has interrupted him.

"Oh my, Touya-san...Are you at it again?"

The older Kamijou froze as he turns around and was shivering when he saw his wife suddenly emitting dark energy from her, "Wh-What do you mean "again"? The father said in a voice that was drowned by the young woman's cries of "It really isn't here! What should I do!" But before something worse happens, Shiina seemed to be able to calm down again as she spotted something from afar.

"Oh my. Isn't that Touma-san over there?"

The two parents then turned and true to her word, they recognized their own child who is making an annoyed gloomy expression. As he was participating in the Daihaseisai, of course he was wearing the short-sleeves and shorts gym uniform. Next to him, there was a girl with a shorter height and shorter, chestnut hair wearing running shorts and an actual uniform suited for track and field.

"If I lose, I'll do a penalty game. I'll do anything you ask."

"Alright, you're on! Anything, goes right?"

"The same for you goes if you lose."

"Eh…so, wait? I have to do anything—"

"What's that? Is that really all the confidence you have after running your mouth like that?"

"Fine, you're on. I'm not letting you cry your way out of it later."

With the way they were speaking to one another so loudly, their words at least made their way over clearly to the three parents, who looked much amused.

"Oh my. Speaking so cleverly and making such an unreasonable request of such a young girl like that, who on earth could he take after I wonder? Oh dear, now that I think about it, it reminds me of my younger days." Shiina mutter quite loud.

Kamijou Touya showed a shocked face as he watches his son banter with the younger girl.

"What the? Saying anything goes in a penalty game with a middle school girl, just what sort of thing are you planning to make her do, Touma!"

As for the woman next to him, she just sighed and placed one hand on her forehead

"Is this because of their influence? Well, I'll have to have a talk with Mikoto about this afterwards. So young and naïve..."

#

It was already 10:30 am in the morning when the opening ceremony was finally over. student Kamijou stood on the football field. This seemed to be a facility affiliated to a sports school that was dedicated to social activities. Even the turf that was made of artificial resin was about to melt in that unrelenting summer. The students, who were dressed in various PE attires, dispersed in groups of twos and threes the moment they stepped past the exits.

Sighing, he then went straight to a more crowded area where there are a lot of booths that is present. Among them are food stalls, barbeque stands, and some fruit vendors. It seems that his path to their school has been blocked or rather been hindered by the fact that there are a lot of fellow students here who are also competing and are now crowding his path.

"Touma!"

A familiar voice came from beside him.

Looking in the direction of where the voice came from, among the crowd that was wearing PE attire, stood Index in her usual white nun's habit that was decorated with gold embroidery. Her name was Index. She was an English girl with long white hair, green eyes, and a slim body. Index carried a calico cat in front of her and listlessly said, "Touma... I'm hungry."

"Huh? You just ate breakfast?" Kamijou retorted as he kept walking.

"But there's such a delicious smell everywhere that I can't stand it," the nun whined, "Japan's food culture is the essence of food temptation. The calico cat in her arms shook its nose and made a happy sound, matching Index's voice.

"Okay, fine." Kamijou shrugged as he seemed to be uninterested to even attend this day's Daihaseisai, "We can walk around late and check it out."

Index nodded her head, before she stopped and asked, "Later?"

"Yeah." Kamijou confirms, "The first match is starting soon. All the events that I'm participating in today are marked in this. Let's go Index."

"To-Touma seems really dull today," Index muttered before running to catch up.

However, the moment Kamijou reached his school some minutes later, he wasn't prepared for the scene that was to unfold before him.

The moment he jogged up in the higher terrain of the school o finally join his classmates who are going to compete in their first event, he was greeted by the sight of a dispirited and tired students all sprawled in the pavement. In fact, it looked like they all suffered some kind of a heatstroke.

 _Do we really have to…do this?_ Now, even the spiky haired boy began to lose some heart as he saw Aogami lying idly on the floor and seemingly unconscious as his eyes, despite being naturally closed when awake, wide shut. _It looks like everyone has been hit by some kind of calamity._ Suddenly, he was startled by a suddenly awakening Aogami, who rolls on the floor.

"Wh-Why does everyone looks so weary before we've even started?" Kamijou asked as he avoids tripping himself with the rolling body of the bluenette?"

Aogami forcefully turned around and said, "Because everyone stayed up all night yesterday playing. And we used up what little energy we had fighting over what strategy to use to defeat the other schools.

"That's what student matches are." The voice of Himegami Aisa, the best friend of Fukiyose who seemed to be unaware of what actually happened with her closest friend, was heard. She was seated on a bench not far from the spiky haired boy as she fixes her hair and the cross hung around her neck.

 _It looks like we would lose even before we compete._ Kamijou said in disappointment as he ended up also falling in the floor and sprawling.

As if he was trying to encourage the despondent Kamijou, somebody said, "Nya! Kami-yan, it can't be helped that everyone is so tired. Nobody expected the opening ceremony to consist of fifteen consecutive principal talks, together with more than fifty congratulatory telegrams that were sent over. I have to praise you for being able to stand even after all that..."

Kamijour turned his head around to see Tsuchimikado Motoharu smirking at him. The boy who looked like a student, but was actually acting as a double agent for both the magic and science side, had his short, blond hair spiking outwards while wearing his light-colored sunglasses on his eyes and gold jeweler on his neck. One could only say that a short-sleeved PE shirt didn't match the other decorations.

"E-even the energetic Aogami and Tsuchimikado are like this," Kamijou can't believe what he is seeing as he looks into his two friends, "Wait... wait a minute, if the opponent is as lifeless, we might have a chance—" The boy was about to grab into his last glimmer of hope when Tsuchimikado cut him off.

"It's impossible, Kami-yan. The opponent seems to be a private elite sports school, you know."

Hearing this, the spiky haired boy let out a loud groan before going completely sprawled on the cement floor. The thought of him losing to Misaka and her giving a hellish punishment was now clear in his mind. _Damn…damn…damn this rotten luck!_

Just when Kamijou felt his skin crawl, a familiar voice, who was late, came into the scene. "Wait…wait a minute, what's wrong with everyone? Why is everyone so tired?"

Kamijou, who was lying on the floor, looked up to the source of the voice and was somehow relieves to see who it was.

The girl in front of him was wearing a short shirt and a pair of shorts, and also a hoody on the outside. The armband on her arm had the words "Daihaseisai Management Committee, High School Division." There should be similar words written on the back. She was rather tall in class and had a nice body. One could see those compassionate breasts of hers under her PE attire. Her long black hair was kept behind her ears, making her familiar forehead look much larger.

To all the other classmates in the boy's class, the girl standing before them was Fukiyose Seiri—or at least by appearance alone.

 _Sequenzia-san!_ Kamijou said in his mind as the girl looked around blankly before turning her attention to the Imagine Breaker user, who was already lying prostrate on the floor. "Hey! Why is everyone on the floor doing nothing!" Shutaura roared in a Fukiyose-like manner, "Everyone get up!"

However, there is something in "Fukiyose" that made them all stand up. _Is it me or she's a bit more violent today?_ Tsuchimikado mentally asked himself as he saw "Fukiyose" suddenly walking towards their favourite butt-monkey in Kamijou Touma and gently offering him a sports drink. This scene caused a short circuit in the blonde's brain as he cannot picture of the famous Iron Wall Girl suddenly offering a drink to their 'playboy' friend without scolding him first. _Wait, scratch that, why didn't she even scold him in the first place? The fact that Kami-yan is lying on the ground is actually enough to push the berserk button on Fukiyose? No….no no no no!_

"Kami-yan!" The blonde suddenly screamed at Kamijou and "Fukiyose" as they seemed to be talking with each other in hushed tones, "What is the meaning of this?! Why does it seemed that the great Fukiyose-sama is becoming so intimate with that bastard playboy?!" He swung his fists in the air as he can't accept the situation in front of him.

"Hell yeah!" Aogami also joined into the protests of the blonde as he clenches his fists, "Why is it always Kami-yan?! And Fukiyose-sama of all people?! Waaahhh! There is no more hope for humanity! Every girl has been inflicted with Kami-yan's disease. We should—"

 _Bam!_

Before Aogami can even finish his sentence, Shutaura already sprang forward towards the blunette's current position and she didn't hold back as she struck the unlucky lolicon in his stomach, causing the bluenette to crash down back to Earth as he winches in pain and held into his affected stomach. Well, he was still lucky it was the stomach part because he would be damned if it was his jaw that was sucker punched instead and knowing that the woman occupying the real Fukiyose's body is a real combatant, the damage would have been unimaginable.

"There." Shutaura said in irritation as she wipes of her hands, "This seemed to be the very first _thing_ that I have disposed of for today. Now, back to our topic…huh…Touma-kun?" She suddenly found the spiky haired boy staring at her with a shivering expression that seems to say, 'Uhm, Shutaura, isn't that too much?'

"What?" Shutaura annoyingly asked, "What did I do?"

"Well, Shu—I mean, Fukiyose, that's a bit too much even if he's an idiotic masochist," the spiky haired boy said as he looks at the incapacitated body of Aogami, who is lying down on the floor, "Well…he's my friend so…"

"I don't care. He's a pest." Shutuara cut him off as she then turns her attention to all their classmate lying idle on the floor, "Well, it looks like it's gonna take more than just shouting at them so that they can get their ass up. It does looks like that they have their stamina sucked up. Do you have any idea how we can make them compete in the Pole Assault event with some energy?"

"Well…" Kamijou was about to say something when suddenly, Tsuchimikado butted into their own conversation without shame and he began to rant.

"What is this, Kami-yan?! What is this?!" The blonde backstabber began to cry in protest as he points an accusing finger at his own friend, "It seems that you two were totally in your own little world! Why, tell me Kami-yan! Tell me! Have you finally—"

"No, don't take things to dramatically, Tsuchimikado," Kamijou had to shut his mouth first before the blonde also tastes one of Shutaura's clench fists and claim his life temporarily, "It's just that…uhm…how do we call this? Oh, I did something wrong to her and I had to repay her by helping her with something else, including this."

"Oh? Is that so?" Tsuchimikado suddenly made a smirk as he grinned like a cat at the spiky haired boy, "Well, it isn't my business anyway, Kami-yan. Have fun, nya!" He then blends in with the rest of the class and disappeared like a bubble. The spiky haired boy heaved a sigh as he breathes slowly.

"Phew. That was close." Kamijou murmured to himself, "It would be a big mess if Tsuchimikado also learns this."

"Good decision. Now, do something about this problem in my hand." Shutaura asked rather gruffly as she takes out a Musashino milk box and began sipping it. If the boy didn't know more, he would have mistaken her for Fukiyose with the way she sips her drink.

"Eh? Seriously?" Kamijou said in despair as he watches all his other classmates despair and wallow in laziness and obvious lack of energy. _How am I supposed to do that?! Barely everyone here even had the stamina to even concentrate seriously and then she's expecting me to do something? Just my luck._ Kamijou blankly looked at his classmates that completely lacked unity and not wanting to deal with this anymore, he decided to seclude himself for a while as he leans into the wall

 _Nobody even wants to play Pole Assault anymore. This may be seriously hopeless…_

But just as he was shaking his head, he heard a man and a woman arguing. It seemed like some people were arguing behind the sports hall.

"Like I said, I realize that our equipment and curriculum are lacking! But this isn't the fault of the students!"

"Isn't it because their results are so low that the administrative board refuses to raise funding?"

 _What's going on now?_

Kamijou kept his body near the sports hall as he peeked in.

The person in the back of the dark sports hall was Kamijou's 135 cm tall homeroom teacher, Tsukuyomi Komoe. Despite her small stature, she was a teacher who wouldn't be mocked even if she was carrying a red _randoseru_. She was wearing a short white dress, accompanied with a light green sleeveless vest. _It seemed like she was wearing that to cheer them us on…_

Facing her was a man that the spiky haired boy had never met before but judging by his features, he should be a teacher from another school. In the Daihaseisai, staff members were wearing sports attire that could be bought outside. This guy in glasses looked to be deviant as he was wearing business clothing on such a hot day.

Komoe-sensei was busy arguing with that teacher.

"You must have it pretty rough, teaching a bunch of failures like that." The man mocked at Komoe, who seemed to start tearing up.

"Students can't simply be labelled as successes or failures!" The pinkette argued back, "They just have their own personalities."

"That's a pretty idealistic opinion." The man simply harrumphed as he turns his back, "The Pole Assault event is starting now. We'll be sure to crush those hopeless failures at your school." The man was laughing as he walks away from Komoe, who just mumbled to herself. "You're wrong…Our students aren't hopeless…"

Her already small and skinny shoulders shrank even more.

It was like she was saying that it was all because of her that her students were shamed by outsiders. She raised her head, looked up at the sky, and remained silent, as if she was trying to endure something.

Kamijou remained silent but deep inside him, something snapped. His fists clenches as he watches his homeroom teacher cry silently on her own.

He turned around.

Shutaura and the rest of the students were standing there silently.

As if he was trying to confirm it, Kamijou Touma asked, "Okay, you guys heard that? Let me ask you guys again, are we going to do this or not?!"

#

Not far from where the event was being held, a large tent was being set up by a group of men in black-and-grey body muscle suits while their female captain was obviously watching them do it as her eyes were kept busy by her tablet that connected her to the exterior cameras spread around the entire city but in particular, her surveillance for today is the Pole Assault event being held in a large field with two tall poles being covered by a school with high-ranking Espers.

"Crow Leader!" Crow 7 suddenly appeared from her back as he was sweating from helping in the setting up their electronics equipment, defensive close-in weapons, and mini-satellite dishes. "We're done setting up everything needed to keep outside threats at bay and internal dissidents and their activities at minimal."

"Y-Yes." Fukiyose almost stuttered as she was forced to pay attention to the next thing that she'll do, which is to keep watch over the screen inside the tent, which became a makeshift command post. Sitting on the floor, she sighed as he find finds herself surrounded by various gadgets and the smell of gun powder began to nauseate her own stomach. _Perhaps, it would take a long time before I get used to it._ She had no idea when to get back her real body and she feared that it might even take months or even a year before that happens.

As Crow 7 and the other men launched a Hermes 450 drone into the skies, Fukiyose then resumes into watching in her tablet the Pole Assault event which is now currently on-going. She hates to admit it but she knew that aside from having to trust Shutaura's own leadership charisma to continue keeping their current situation under tabs, she had to also trust that Kamijou would be able to guide her in their own class and if possible, come to her rescue when her top seemed to be threatening to blow off. _Lucky her._ She says as she noticed that the Pole Assault has began.

To her surprise, the screen showed an image of a very determined Kamijou Touma with Shutaura at his side and Aogami at his back. It would be an understatement to say that Fukiyose was very much surprised as what she just saw. _What's with this sense of adrenaline rush?! That Kamijou…to think that he is able to display this kind of leadership capability at a time like this._

Her mind was shattered the moment the referee fired a pistol, a signal that the moment to start was given. Immediately, Kamijou looked like he was shouting some kind of battle cry as he charges forward. _Is he becoming reckless or what?!_ She mentally screamed as the other opposing school began to fire their powers.

Right now, the distance between the two bases was around eighty meters before they could both close the gap with Kamijou's school quickly rushing in.

The opponent, lined up in a straight line, continuously fired some flashes over. They looked like the camera flashes from the spectator stands, but they were not. They were long ranged attacks that were fired by the espers.

It seemed like they're capable of detonating flames to create explosive pressure. In order to keep the pressure shaped in the form of a bullet, the flame bombs were covered with an invisible force field created by an esper who could manipulate pressure. The Imagine Breaker can cancel it out without any question but could not keep up with continuous assaults.

Nevertheless, as Kamijou kept running, someone else ran beside him. "I'll go first, Kami-yan." Aogami barked as he sidestepped every bullet that got into his way, "Watch how this comedian crushes the irritating aura of those corrupted elites! Wahahahaha!

The intercepting squad continued to fire several bullets, and Aogami Pierce continued to dodge them leisurely by spinning around like a ballet dancer.

In a few seconds, a sandstorm has exploded, causing the whole audience to start to scream as if they were riding on a roller coaster. Those that are watching probably think that this is interesting. And in a blink of the moment, the whole part crashed into the base as Kamijou sneakily clenched his right fist.

After a few moments, a battered and dusted class emerged from the whole sand storm.

In short, Kamijou and company won the battle.

The warriors who were covered with bruises and injuries completely forgot about their victory and injuries as they walked out of the arena from the entrance and into the school compound. Fukiyose somehow felt proud of her own class as she watches them greet Komoe in the entrance and that she looks like she was about to cry. "Too bad I wasn't there," Her black eyes watched the spiky haired boy and Shutaura in her own real face walk off together as they look like they're gonna exit the whole area. _Maybe I should meet them?_ After some moments of thinking, she then called Crow 7 to take over her duties for the moment so that he can attend to something more important for her.

#

A tall priest, perhaps standing 200 cm tall, was currently sitting in one of Academy City's café store. His red hair is quite long and hangs on his shoulders. He wears a black priest robe and has a silver ring on each of his ten fingers, earrings on both ears, and a noticeable barcode tattoo under his right eye. The tall man has an absolutely strong perfume smell, and is seen having a cigarette in his mouth. As he gets another pack of his cancer sticks from a small box, he lights it up and began to puff again. He seemed to be irritated as he was grunting to himself.

"Yo, Stiyl," a familiar voice called out from a distance as the man called Stiyl suddenly turned his head to see who was it.

It was none other than Tsuchimikado, with his signature smile and shades.

"Tsuchimikado," Stiyl acknowledged his presence as he stands up from his chair to meet the smaller but not small boy, "I take it that you know why I'm here."

"Ah, yes, yes." The blonde spy said with a mischievous grin as he looks at another dimension, "It seems like the Pole Assault had just concluded. Well…I'd be happy not to get involve in dirtying myself into that game. Now, can you pleasantly tell me what are you planning to do?"

"You know what it is that, anyway," Stiyl said in an irritated manner as he takes out another ciggy, "Or are you trying to say that we should involve _him_?"

"If it helps us, then you had no choice," Tsuchimikado smirked, while silently praying that things go as he planned.


	6. Prelude

"Index? Eh, where did she go?"

As of the moment, Kamijou Touma looked at the spectator stand where she should be but for some reason, he just couldn't find her. Although it was called a spectator stand, it was actually just a blue plastic sheet laid on the school grounds, and there was nothing to block the sunlight... together with the people gathering nearby. The students nearby formed a human wall, so it was quite difficult to look around.

Kamijou got into the crowd, moving from one end to another, but in the end, he still couldn't find her.

"Hnnn...it should have been easy to spot her when she's wearing such a noticeable white nun's habit." Kamijou groaned as for the moment, he then remembered Shutaura telling him that she'll leave for a while to change her dirtied PE shirt and shorts. She also told him that if he wants, they can have lunch together. _Now that I think of it, Tsuchimikado has yet to know that Shutura and Fukiyose have changed their bodies._

He stuffed his hands into his PE shorts, looking at the school compound that was slightly farther away.

"I gave Index a zero-yen phone before and it should be the fastest way to contact her." Kamijou thought to himself and then suddenly whined. "Too bad my phone is in the classroom."

The spiky haired boy had never seen Index use a cell phone before although he knew that she can decently use the telephone as evident when he called her back when he was in Misawa Cram School just some months back. Although he was worried, Kamijou felt that it was the best way given to the current situation that he was stuck in.

 _Sorry, Shutaura. I had to handle this one first._

So, feeling that he had no choice, he then dragged his feeth in the streets whose direction spoints toward sa certain high school.

During the Daihaseisai, many schools prohibited people from entering the school grounds. They couldn't allow others to see the facilities that were related to esper development. The only exception was for their own students, like Kamijou. In case anyone got injured, the school's doctor was available in the healthcare room, and the shower room was opened.

So, Kamijou walked up the stairs.

There were two Anti-Skill members wearing black uniforms at the shoe closet. The teachers, who normally taught history and mathematics in front of the blackboard, were carrying guns, and the sight was somewhat strange, given hat they looked very normal when they are holding the chalk in front of their classes.

Even before he can be interrogated, Kamijou decided to be the first one to speak up. "Ah, I'm looking for someone who's lost in the crowd so can I grab my cell phone in the classroom? It would be quick."

"Kamijou, your reason is too direct." The female mathematics teacher said sternly. "If you can't contact the person due to electromagnetic wave interference, tell us when you need to use the P.A. system. So now, let's wish you a good time in the Daihaseisai." The teacher seemed to find it troublesome as she replied. However, she did mention the necessary points, as expected of a trained professional.

Thanking the teacher, Kamijou got past Anti-Skill and walked towards the staircase. After putting on his slippers at the shoe cabinet, he walked up the stairs. It was really quiet when no one was in school—the moment he thought of that, the speakers started to blare a loud echo, and it was really noisy.

 _I shoud have just kept my mouth shut._

He walked up the stairs. After walking for a while, he reached his own class. As he pulled the door aside, Kamijou thought of something else.

 _Himegami seemed to have blended well into our class and that's good. Oh yeah, I have to contact Index the moment I get the phone. If Himegami is free, it'd be nice if she could come along with us as well..._

However, he immediately froze on the spot when he opened the sliding door.

For some reason, the Management Committee member "Fukiyose Seiri" had taken off her clothes here in the same room.

 _Correction to myself. That's Shutaura._

Before he even opened the door, he hadn't noticed that the curtains of the windows were pulled down. In the dark classroom, Shutaura Sequenzia, who was sitting on the table opposite Kamijou, was wearing only a pair of panties. Just a pair of panties. She was not even wearing her bra. She seemed to be changing her clothes that were muddy and dusty due to the water and sand etc that exploded right in front of her back in the Pole Assault event. Even her panties seemed to be new, as the plastic bag near her feet contained her wet clothes and underwear. The other set of clothes seemed to be placed in a sports bag.

Shutaura, for the moment, looked at Kamijou calmly.

Then she got flustered as she realized what was happening right now.

"W-Wait a minute, Shutaura!" Kamijou screamed in horror as he attempts to defend himself "I came here to get my cell phone so that I can find Index since she got lost again. There's no malicious intent here! Also, please read the instructions on how to use a chair before using it! I'll be dead if I get hit by that!"

Kamijou got down and started begging in 0.2 seconds. Seeing the boy in front of her, Shutaura's flustered and growing anger subsided a bit as she sighed and removed her hand from the chair. She took out some clothes from her sports bags beside her, and placed it over her naked body.

"N-Never mind, Touma-kun." Shutaura stuttered. "Just leave the classroom and wait me outside."

"You're not angry?" Kamijou looked surprise as he slowly raises his head up.

"It can't be helped since you're looking for a missing person." Shutaura gruffly replied. "You don't have to kneel down and beg but don't lift your head or else..."

Seeing the woman putting on her jersey jacket, and that she only had a pair of panties on, one had to worry over whether she pulled up the zipper. Kamijou, who was as shocked as her, didn't notice that Shutaura's arms were trembling.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" The boy replied as he began to move.

Kamijou remained bent down as stepped backwards but just when he was about to leave the classroom, he foolishly opened his mouth again.

"You're really not angry?"

"I said get out of here right now!" Shutaura grabbed the cardboard box on the table and flung it at Kamijou. The spiky haired boy frantically ran out of the classroom and slammed the door shut with his backhand. He then sat in the corridor and took a deep breath.

 _Ah... that was really frightening..._

Kamijou shook his head and looked down. At that moment, he saw a box on the corridor that was as big as a cigarette pack. _Was that the box that Shutaura threw?_ Kamijou took the box and examined it.

 _Hot Hot Sheep-san, an infrared therapy device. To be attached below a cell phone. Whether it's relieving stiff shoulders or stress relief, it's effective!_

That was what was written on the box.

Seeing the exterior of the box, the design of the item seemed to be a lamb that could change shape. It should be of the same type of goodie as the frog lucky charm attached to a certain electromaster's bag.

"So this is a decoration that's attached to a cell phone. Relieves shoulder stiffness and fatigue but the number of uses is really little. To think there are people in this world who are attracted to this weird thing..." Kamijou said weirdly then realizes soemthing "Isn't this something that the late night shopping channel would recommend? And don't tell me Shutaura's beginning to be obsessed over healh products as well?!"

Because Index would be sleeping soundly in the room where the television was, Kamijou could only use the television function of his cell phone to watch late night shows. On the other hand, Shutaura, who was still inside the classroom, didn't seem to notice that Kamijou was sighing,

"Touma-kun, did you put the cell phone in the drawer?" The temporarily-retired Black Crow leader suddenly called out from the room.

"Ah, isn't my bag on the table? My cell phone's placed inside." Kamijou replied.

"I'll give it to you after I finish changing. Just wait there."

"Thanks Shutaura. I'll exchange it with that weird purchase you threw over. I really couldn't tell that you're the type that uses mail-ordering. Did Fukiyose hypnotized you into buying one?"

Hearing Kamijou say that, a frantic "Wah!?" sound could be heard in the classroom. Shutaura had just seemed to realize now what she had just thrown out.

After a while, Shutaura's voice came from the classroom.

"To-Touma-kun, you do realize that I'm not into those things?!" Shutaura began to rant as she bellowed. "And besides, it's Fukiyose's fault that she bought them for my personal use."

"Oh ok...heh?! Fukiyose bought that?!"

Although Shutaura could really rebut, she seemed to be unable to answer when somebody else rebutted back. It just didn't help as well that the person she's speaking to is Kamijou, who is trying hard to think of something to say that wouldn't offend her as she continued to rant off inside the classroom like she was reading a tongue twister.

At that moment, Kamijou Touma didn't realize that they had another company in the same area as footsteps of a woman can be heard.

"Dammit! Can I open the door?!" Kamijou shouted from the outside as he held the box in his hands. "I don't want to be get killed by her once she learns I'm fiddling with her things!"

" _Nani_ …what is this?"

The poor boy froze the moment he heard that clear and familiar feminine voice suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"Kaamijou! I'm asking you…what is this?!" Fukiyose, in Shutaura's cat suit, appeared to be in a surprised but somewhat irritated mood as she takes a look at what the boy is holding on his right hand. Kamijou turned around to face her jet black eyes and pale face as he tried to explain.

"W-We-Well…this is that thing that you ordered…"

"Grrrr….why are you holding that?!"

Before Kamijou can even respond, a quick flying hook at connected to his chin.

#

"Touma, what's wrong? Did something happen? Why do you look like you just cried?"

"It's nothing, Index…"

Facing the cute white nun who tilted her head slightly, Kamijou was sighing as he cannot believe that in the end, Shutaura and Fukiyose would go along with them. After getting struck in the chin by none other than the original Forehead Deluxe who was currently occupying the body of Shutaura, the poor boy lay in the cold, hard floor for ten minutes. After that, he finally manage to regain his consciousness, only to see the two girls now in an adorable verbal tussle. They only managed to stop arguing after they saw the boy now fully awake.

"By the way, Index, where's your phone?" Kamijou asked as he touches his swollen chin.

"Right here!" Index replied rather cheerfully as she takes out her flip phone.

"Then why didn't you answer it?!" The boy with spiky hair angrily began to rant but when he takes a look at the screen, he notices that the it has only one bar left and that it's at red. In short, because Index's phone had run out of power, Kamijou had to look for her using her beautiful monastic robes.

 _And forget about charging, Index didn't even know what a power source was in the first place._

"This isn't important right now, Touma." Index began to speak aloud as her tummy began to growl violently. "I'm hungry so get me something to eat, Touma."

"Yeah, let's eat together." Finally, Shutaura said something after being quiet at first when they first linked up with Index here in the spectator stands. "I'm actually pretty hungry myself…"

"Well…as long as you follow my health tips, you can eat anything you want but don't let it disfigure my body." Fukiyose sighed as inwardly, she was very much fearful for her own, real body which she had always taken care off with ease and caution.

"Well, it's not my fault your boobs are a bit heavy…" Shutaura gritted her teeth as she reached out for a bottle of water.

"Can we just maintain some peace and harmony for this day? I almost thought you two are going to kill each other a while back?" Kamijou now played the peacemaker as he then turns to Index. "As for you Index, how about we go for a cheap _bento_ or those snacks you can find in the open area? And seriously, why do you look like a vengeful spirit that's thirsty for spiritual energy?!"

"Short Hair down there just gave me a drink and some chocolate biscuits a while back." Index then recounts. "But I'm not full! I want more!"

"You're not full?!" Kamijou's eyes are beginning to grow larger in horror. "You ate a _bento_ and several other things just this morning and you're still like this? By the way, who's this Short Hair you're talking about?! Ah, never mind. It doesn't matter who she is but did you thank the person properly? Index!?"

Index did not even react to her partner's shouting at all. It's said that girls have another stomach for sweet stuff but it seemed like the nun-in-training in front of him had the ability to separate every single type of food into different stomachs. _Is that even part of the curriculum that the English Puritan Church is teaching to nuns like this spoiled and bratty kid in front of me?_ Kamijou thought as he then pulls out something from his pocket.

 _Since she was not satisfied with just eating a single bento, we had to go to the some stores out there_. Kamijou wildly thought. Once he had it in his hands, he flipped open the thick tourist guidebook that was kept in his pocket and found that there was still a bit of time before the next event, the Big Ball Rolling match.

"Alright, let's leave the spectator stands. If we go back to where the stores were just now, we'll still be able to find lots of food that can easily form a mountain when they're stacked up."

Upon hearing that, Index quickly turned her head around.

"As tall as a mountain?!"

"No…not really." Fukiyose, speaking as if she was used to Index's antics, replied for the exasperated boy. "Although the amount of food can form a mountain when they're stacked up. But then, you two had to hurry up eating as there is still the next event after this."

" _Hai, Hai,_ Fukiyose." Kaimijou nodded as he then pulls out his wallet. But as soon as he takes a look at his money, he then realizes that it wasn't even enough to feed the two of them. "Oi, Index, I don't have enough money to buy them all! Don't look at me with those glowing eyes! I'll feel guilty!"

Kamijou sighed as he dug deeper into his pockets, trying to confirm how much money he still had on his disposal. There was still some money inside but it was all he had for the entire Daihaseisai tournament, which would run for a week. If he was to spend all of it just on the first day alone, what awaited him would be nothing short of a tragic event.

Kamijou frustratedly thought of how to control Index's appetite as they decide to head toward the stores first. Index started to daydream about the food haven that she hadn't seen even in her dreams. Including her eyes, hair and skin, her entire body was glowing. The psychological theory that any mental activities will bring about physical effects to the human body seemed to be true.

Kamijou and Index as well as the two lookalike ladies walked toward a major road.

Seeing the traffic light turn red, they stopped moving. Basically during the Daihaseisai, ordinary vehicles weren't allowed on the roads of Academy City, but business vehicles like buses, taxis, and delivery trucks were allowed. Because of that, though there were so many people, they couldn't just turn Academy City into a walking haven.

Once they crossed the road, the stores would be right in front of their eyes. They could faintly smell barbeque sauce and tenderloin getting burned and grilled from the opposite side of the road. When the traffic light turned green, Index started to shine so brightly that the shining index was at its highest of the year.

However, it seemed that fate chose to play with them at this point.

Anti-Skill, who was maintaining the safety of Academy City in the outside with the Black Crow Unit acting on the shadows, raised the "No Entry" boards in front of them.

"Ah, I'm sorry. But there'll be many schools performing an ensemble parade here. We won't make it if we don't stop the crowd." The officer, Yomikawa Aiho, explained to them rather in a regretful tone as she raises up the signage.

The Anti-Skill member was the same woman who is the current PE teacher in Kamijou's school. A known goddess in the school campus, she was a really beautiful teacher who tied her pitch-black hair behind her. She was not currently wearing her ordinary green track attire, but a black standard uniform. _The reason she was not wearing a safety helmet was probably so that she wouldn't give a bad impression to the visitors_. Kamijou thought.

During the Daihaseisai, Academy City residents paid the most attention to providing a good impression to the public. In other words, half the reason why they were organizing this event was to give a good impression to the general public.

In order to prevent any outsider access to any secret areas that involved the development of esper powers, the security in the research areas was very strict. Only an expert could rely on his skills to give a sense of seriousness without ordinary people sensing it.

The Anti-Skill lady also gave that sort of impression. Besides her putting on full gear and covering up all her skin, seeing a beauty's face would likely give anyone a good impression, especially for men who would come and visit places where maidens can be seen.

Kamijou looked at the "No Entry" signboard, then looked across the road, before asking, "Excuse me Yomikawa-sensei, if I may ask, I want to get across the road; what's the best way to do so?"

"Because this is a major parade, there's no access along this road for eight kilometers. You can see it here, it's written in the tourist guidebook. Hnn…" The blue-eyed teacher flipped open the guidebook and said, "There's no overhead bridge nearby so the nearest location is here. This is a subway that you can use to cross the street if you go about 3 kilometers west…"

 _Three kilometers?!_ Miraculously, both Kamijou and Fukiyose thought aloud as they were speechless.

Looking beside him, Index couldn't withstand the hunger in her stomach, as she silently sat on the floor, giving a look that said she couldn't walk that far.

 _But it's right there!_

"Well, we'll just have to wait until the Big Ball Rolling Match even is over." Kamijou made his decision as he scratches his head.

"It's disappointing but I guess we can go with Touma-kun's suggestion." Shutaura shrugged as she knew she had to endure the hunger for now.

However, Index didn't want to hear any of it.

"T-o-u-m-a!" Index's eyes turned to glowing red as her harp fangs began to surface.

"I-Index-san! What? Wait! Why are you angry with me?!" Kamijou took a step back as all of a sudden, the English nun leaped up to try and bite her own partner.

Her fangs didn't reach on time as out of nowhere, a blur of brown hair suddenly appeared and before they knew it, Kamijou was dragged by this girl.

"Alright, I've got you! You're my ticket to victory!"

#

Misaka Mikoto was running down the streets.

She was not in the playing field but on the crowded streets. Not only was there no prohibition for them to get on the road. There was no clearing of the roads.

Even so, Mikoto was in a match right now. Looking around, there were also several people running about on the trails nearby. The spectators were allowed to walk anywhere—in fact, this was the only competition where the spectators were required to be involved.

The Borrowing Race.

The competitive area was Districts 7, 8, and 9 of Academy City. Of course, the competitors weren't allowed to use any forms of transportation like buses or subway trains.

They started out from the starting point, and had to look for a specified item before going back to the starting point. It really felt like a marathon made much more complicated.

What was different was that there was no fixed route, as the competitors had to think of the shortest route. That kind of brain training was very important, and was different from thinking at the table.

Running around like that would tire a person physically. Like the wide area of the competitive zone, this competition was famous for the high difficulty in finding something.

"Tsk, this is where Kuroko would excel with her teleportation ability! If only she wasn't injured at all…" Misaka said to herself in an exasperated manner as she continued to run. "Really, it'd be much easier if they would just gather everyone in Academy City over here!)

Obviously, Misaka's ability was the Railgun and frankly speaking, it was powerful but it was not very much useful when it had nothing to do with combat. For the sake of ordinary people, the board of directors of Academy City had decreed that any powers that were Level 5 were forbidden. With her ability, it'd exceed no matter how she adjusted her power.

Misaka passed the water stand, and continued to run without noticing the isotonic drinks. In a long distance marathon, too much water content would slow her down.

She again opened the slip of paper.

She reconfirmed the name of the designated item that was required.

"Looks like I have to do something troublesome…wait, is that…"

As she ran through the crowd, she spotted the "item" in front of her.

The conditions were the following.

 _When a third-party person has a designated good, you have to get the person's permission and get that person to follow you back to the starting area."_

 _Watch me!_

Mikoto kicked her shoes, made of highly reactive and light material, onto the ground, as she dashed into the crowd.

In a few seconds, she got her winning ticket.

Which happened to be none other than the misfortunate Kamijou Touma.


	7. Magicians and Miracles

_How the hell did I even get roped into this?_

Kamijou Touma, who had been trampled on like a Persian carpet, walked into the competition area with Misaka Mikoto, through the white tape of the finishing line of the Borrowing Race competition.

The competitive area was in a completely different dimension compared to where they had the Wrench Pole Competition. This place seemed to belong to some large university, as the orange concrete floor had white lines on it like it was a standard race track. The spectator stands were the ladder-type, like the ones found on those large football stadiums and there were so many more video cameras used for reporting and security guards.

The high school committee members stationed there covered the Railgun with a large sports towel after she finished running the marathon. The signals they gave to provide drinks and a mini oxygen task were executed quite well. Not only were they practical but also, it was like they had also considered that they were on air. After that, there would be a recognition ceremony and a simple interview. Before the next few participants arrived, the first few had to wait at another area.

"The hell…" Kamijou can only despair as he watches another participant hand what looks like another unwilling person dragged into the race as another item, "How come the committee members here are trained like they were professionals or something?"

The female high school committee member who was taking care of Misaka suddenly turned her head and stared at Kamijou's face. _What now?_ Kamijou thought as he raised his eyebrows in curiosity as to why he was being stared blatantly.

At that moment, the committee member whispered as she quickly stops what she was going, "Kamijou Touma-kun, there's nothing wrong with the 'specified object' since that's what's the rules said but what's with you, of all people, getting dragged into this by one of her, one of the famed Level Fives?"

 _This voice_ … Kamijou suddenly remembered the familiar voice but it took him a few more seconds before it clicked into his mind, "Heh?! Fukiyose?! Uh…I mean…Shutau…gya! Fukiyose?!"

Kamijou looked carefully at the person in front of him. Physically, it was Fukiyose Seiri although it was somebody else that was inhabiting the body of the Iron Wall Girl.

She was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt, shorts and a thin jacket. She stopped whatever she was doing and turned his attention towards the boy the moment she's finished cleaning up the Railgun.

They whispered to each other to prevent giving away the body swap situation from those that aren't involved.

"…Uhm, Fukiyose-san…" Kamijou laughed nervously as he had to use the name of the girl who inhabits another body far from them, "What are you doing here? And what's with the towel?"

"Have you forgotten that I'm in the high school committee, idiot?!" Shutaura can feel a headache coming into her head, "I was forced to come here because I was ordered to."

"I see. By the way, where are Fukiyose and Index?" Kamijou asked in concern for his two other friends, "Did they go ahead to eat snacks?"

"Yes. I told them to go ahead so I can pick you up here," Shutaura sighed as she helps the boy get back to his feet, "But I didn't expect that I would find you in this kind of state. What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, this?" Kamijou sighed as he spotted that he had a small bruise in his right arm, "You know…those little misfortunes that I have although I am perfectly fine…"

 _What the hell?! What's the meaning of this?_ Just near where Kamijou and Shutaura were busy speaking with one another on hushed tones, Misaka can only seethe in both confusion and growing anger as neither the two of them seem to pay any attention to the brunette Esper nor do they even plan to take a second glance at her. In her fury, she finally decided to butt into their conversation as she held a towel and her drink.

"Excuse me but shouldn't you be paying attention to me as the contestant rather than that guy?!" She screamed, catching the attention of the two who stopped their toned-down conversation, "And you! How come you are speaking to her like you know—"

"Geez, Misaka-san, I do know her," Kamijou cut her off as he raises his hands in an apparent attempt to tone down the tension, "She's an acquaintance and a classmate from our school. She's Shut—I mean, she's Fukiyose Seiri, hehehe…" He had to bite his tongue as he almost let it slip from his mouth, "By the way, Fukiyose, since the other two are on their way to eat snacks, let's go—"

"Unfortunately, I had to go and attend these high school committee matters," Shutaura sweatdropped as she didn't actually expect to see Misaka Mikoto since she remembers her through Arisa Meigo's memories, "But we have each other's numbers anyway so whenever you needed a call or a text, you know whom you can go to." She gives a thumbs-up to the spiky haired boy, who can only fantasize in a drooling manner.

 _Uwaaah! I wish this was the real Fukiyose-san and not just her physical shell with another soul possessing her body!_ The spiky haired boy wanted to cry but he decided to keep his thoughts to himself, "Well, if that's fine Fukiyose, then I supposed I'll be on my way then. I heard that the Big Ball Rolling event would be next. You'll be there, right?"

"Of course, you idiot…"

The two then separated ways as Kamijou knew he had to find Index and, if possible, Fukiyose, who should be with her. _What the hell was that?!_ Misaka can only stare at the two walking individuals with her mouth dropping hilariously while she detonated her own drink using her electric shocks.

Meanwhile, the boy had finally began his search for his two other friends as he drank the sports drink that was given to her by the Black Crow member in another girl's body. _Being stepped on and kicked… To think that in this competition, an ordinary civilian gets it much worse than the participant. Isn't this competition supposed to be about having a participant get involved with the public, and being unable to use their own abilities? Such misfortune._ Kamijou can only sigh as thought about that but nobody could give him an answer. He sipped the drink while he was thinking about all the possible places where his classmate could have brought the silver-haired nun. _She must have nagged Fukiyose to bring her to some food stall._

Suddenly, a piece of paper just flew into his face as the wind zoomed past his side. _Huh, what's this?_ He stopped walking as he peeled off the paper from his face.

It seemed to be the instructions of the Borrowing Race judging from the instructions and routes given. _There were no other participants there other than Misaka, who was so far ahead of the pack, so that sheet of instructions should be hers._ Shutaura had already recorded the results on the record sheet so it should be useless. Kamijou figured that a cleaning robot would clean it up sooner or later if he just left it there but he decided to take the paper with him anyway.

 _What?_

Reading the instructions carefully, he quietly recited, "A high school student who participated in the first competitive event…"

 _This is strange._ His eyebrows shot up. _The Pole Assault Competition did occur directly after the opening ceremony. But besides me, there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who fulfill this criteria… so why am I… forced… to run this much?_

Kamijou, whose fatigue was rising rapidly, drooped his shoulders as he limped towards the exit.

While walking out of the exit, he had a thought. _Eh? Why did Misaka know that I took part in the Pole Assault Competition?_

He was puzzled.

* * *

The competitive arena was rather far with respect to where Index or Fukiyose was.

So, Kamijou decided to take the bus back.

"So where the hell is she or even Fukiyose? Oh yeah, they must been eating somewhere else…" He said to himself as he made himself comfortable in the jam-packed auto-pilot bus, which was driving rather smoothly. Of the current buses that were operative, 70 percent of them were automatic without anybody manning them. The bus, which was powered by electricity, glided forward without making a single sound.

Without using gasoline, the extremely quiet bus stopped a few times, before it reached Kamijou's destination.

There was still quite a distance to where he had separated from Index and Fukiyose. Because part of the road could not be accessed due to the ensemble parade, the bus route was somewhat altered.

The spiky haired boy quickly alighted off the bus and walked on the road, as the related broadcasts could be heard everywhere, even though it was mixed in with the noise of the crowd. Besides using the audio devices to broadcast, they were using the large screens on department stores and airships to air the live telecasts and other feeds through the temporary studios and different media.

" _Regarding the results of the men's obstacle course just now, after some decisions—"_

" _The matches in one hour's time will be as follows. There's no access to the matches once it starts, everyone please take note—"_

" _In the Borrowing Race organized by four different schools, Tokiwadai Middle School got an overwhelming victory as expected. The first place has the honor of being seven minutes faster than the other competitors—"_

"Anyhow, where did Fukiyose brought Index? Ah, right!" Kamijou seemed to have found his Eureka moment as he fishes out his phone and contacts his classmate. In a few minutes, Fukiyose picked up, " _Moshi moshi…Kamijou, where the hell are you?! By the way, Shutaura had to leave us because she was called by the high school committee team…_ "

"I'm sorry for that one, Fukiyose," Kamijou apologized sheepishly as he scratches his face, "Well, where are you and Index? I got dragged into that stupid borrowing race so that's why I ended up being in a horrible figure…"

" _Hnnn. I left her in Komoe's hands since I had to temporarily go back to my post at the checkpoint of the Black Crows,_ " Fukiyose explained her situation, " _By the way Kamijou, how do you use a handgun again?_ "

"H-How should I know?!" Kamijou frantically replied, not even slightly expecting this question to be coming out of his classmate's mouth, "I never have held one before, much less use one. Wait a minute…why the hell did you need a gun at this point? Is something happening around there?!"

" _Nothing's happening here, you dolt. It's just some normal security checks from the shadows. I'm just going to call her then…_ " Fukiyose trailed off, causing Kamijou to think that the call had already ended. However, she once again began to speak, " _By the way, are you taking care of yourself there? I'd hit you if I found out that something bad had happened._ "

"Wha—What?" The boy didn't expect those words laced with concern from the Iron Wall Girl as she scratches his head only, "Well, I'm taking care of myself, alright. Well, take care of yourself there as well. Can't really bear to see you having a hard time…"

" _Ba-Baka! Don't just say things like that out of the blue!_ " Fukiyose reprimanded him although her tone was a bit soft compared to her rough voice just minutes ago, " _Well, I have to go. Just find Index and Komoe in the food stalls. I know they had to be there…_ " There was a long and continuous beep after Fukiyose's last message, indicating that she had already cut off the call.

 _What's with her this time?_ Kamijou can't help but feel a little bit weird that Fukiyose just said that to him. _For some reason, I can imagine her face suddenly go red for no reasons._ He didn't realize that when he was talking to her at the phone, what he envisioned was actually exactly what was happening at that time.

 _Anyhow, I had to reach to Index and Komoe-sensei._ Kamijou sighed as he walked briskly. He knew that calling the nun through her phone would be useless since at this point, it had ran out of batteries and he doesn't even have his teacher's personal digits. Although the nun had a photographic memory and she could remember any place she went to, Kamijou was still worried.

 _Walking in this very hot day, I should have bought a gift for her when I passed the stores just now_. He thought as he grips his phone.

But it was already too late to go back. The Big Ball Rolling event was coming up next and he knew he won't have any more time at this point. Anyway, he knew he still had to find Index, and then headed to the arena where his Shutaura, Himegami, and his other classmates were. Thinking about this, he hastened his steps.

But he wasn't even five minutes into his path when suddenly, something from afar suddenly made him stop dead on his tracks.

He swore he suddenly saw a familiar face amidst the heavy crowd.

Narrowing his eyes as he slowly walks near towards the one thing that made him halt his progress, the Imagine Breaker wielder nearly gasped as he can't believe whom he was seeing today. Standing more than 190 cm, his hair was dyed red, and he was wearing earrings. He had rings on each of his ten fingers, was smoking a cigarette, and had tattoo markings underneath his right eye. It was a priest that didn't look like a priest.

 _Eh?_ Kamijou knew he can't be wrong. _What is Stiyl Magnus doing here?_

He sees that the fire-spitting sorcerer from Necessarius, the 0th parish of the Church of England, was busy speaking to someone who is hidden by some kind of bushes. _What is he up to now? Is he here to find Index?_

Realistically speaking, it was really hard to imagine Stiyl of the magical world getting interested with something like the Daihaseisai or even the other events like the Ichihanaransai. He should be there to look for his old colleague in Index that he was normally unable to meet under strange circumstances.

Understandably, Kamijou won't object to such heartwarming gesture. It was even much better for someone who knew Index much better to be around since that person could help him take care of Index during his matches in the sports festival. As if suddenly forgetting his next match for the day, Kamijou inadvertently moved closer to him.

 _Who is he talking to, anyway?_ The boy with the mysterious right hand asked himself as he finally managed to inch closer. The moment he was able to get a much better view, he just stood there dumbly as he found out that it was none other than his prankster and deviant pervert best friend in Tsuchimikado Motoharu. The double agent for both Academy City and the English Puritan Church seemed to taking things too easy but he was speaking so softly that nobody around him could hear anything if they don't move too close.

"Yeah. That's… I heard that—That's right, to these people, there's no better chance…than now…" The blonde spoke as if it was the end of the world.

 _Oh no._ Was the only thing the boy with black hair can think about. _I got a bad feeling about this._

In order to get find out what exactly is wrong at this point, Kamijou proceeded to walk forward slowly as he intended to make his presence known by now. Stiyl quietly said, "So, the task is up to us to get rid of the magicians in this city."

"I knew it…" The world Kamijou Touma lived in, where science was at the forefront suddenly became a world filled with magic all because of that statement coming from the redheaded priest, "I knew something else strange was happening!"

By the time he realize he just shouted what he was thinking, Kamijou realized that two pairs of eyes coming from the fire sorcerer and the blond backstabber. Suddenly feeling small under their intimidating eyes and piercing stares, Kamijou merely smiled as he waved his eyes, "H-hi, I just thought something else is happening here?"

"Ka-Kami-yan?!" Understandably, Tsuchimikado was surprised to see the spiky haired boy suddenly appearing in their impromptu meeting, "What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the next event right now? It won't be long before the Big Ball Rolling game would be starting…"

"Seems like Kamijou Touma's luck is some kind of curse," Stiyl huffed as he crushes the burned cigarette butt and lights another fresh cancer stick, "By the way, is Index with you? You should remember very well what I told you in the battle against Agnese's forces about your responsibility to her…"

"Komoe-sensei's taking care of her alright since I'm part of a tournament," Kamijou sighed, hoping this would help explain why he wasn't with the nun.

Tsuchimikado gritted his teeth before he sighed, "Since we're talking about neutralizing that magician anyway, I think it's best that you came here when we least unexpected. We can use your right hand to stop her immediately. Stiyl, continue what you are saying."

"About what I said earlier, Academy City is most likely relaxing its security in order to attract a bigger audience from the audience," The priest restarted his explanation.

"And magicians are taking this chance to infiltrate?" Tsuchimikado immediately made the connection.

"It seems that a magician did managed to see this loophole of this city and managed to penetrate in when the security is down," Stiyl said, blowing the smoke into the thin air.

"But, what's the reason?!" Kamijou can't help but suddenly become aggressive, "Are these people here to kidnap Index? I won't sit back and watch if it really involves her!"

"Don't panic, Kamijou Touma," Stiyl sighed as his cigarette was already burning fast, "The enemy's target this time isn't her. To the enemy, if she gets involved, it'll only make things more difficult for them."

"Huh?" The boy was visibly confused by the last sentence, "What does that supposed to mean?"

"I'll explain this to you later, Kami-yan," Tsuchimikado patted the shoulder of the shorter boy, "Let's talk about the main issue, which is the main reason why the magicians snuck into Academy City…"

"Magicians? There are more of them?"

"Right now, we've only confirmed two of them, though. Lidvia Lorenzetti of the Roman Catholic Church, and the agent she paid and planted here, Oriana Thomson," Stiyl elaborated, "There should be at least one person they're dealing with, but right now, it isn't clear. Rumors have it that the biggest suspect is Bishop Nikolai Tolstoy of the Russian Ortodox Church but we can't confirm it as of now."

"Courier? Anyway, what is this deal all about?" Kamijou asked.

"They're making a trade with the Church's spiritual weapon here in this city," Tsuchimikado replied.

"What? Why here?" The boy doesn't seem to understand it, "Isn't Academy City as far from the magical factions as you can get?"

"That's the point, Kami-yan," Tsuchimikado made Kamijou look like some kind of an idiot, "Neither Anti-Skill nor Judgment can catch magicians from the magical world anyhow. Also, the Crusaders and Necessarius of the magical world cannot step into Academy City, which belongs to the science world. So now, this has become a situation where both sides are unable to take action."

"In other words, the only people who can act freely are your buddies already in Academy City," Stiyl further explained, "If it wasn't for the Daihaseisai, the actions of Lidvia and everyone else would be limited due to the tight security. Only in this extremely busy period will Academy City loosen its guard. That's why they're able to act."

"Then can't you guys send in many Necessarius members like Stiyl to arrest them?" Kamijou looked at his blonde friend, who seemed to almost laugh at what the spiky haired boy just said.

"The reason why I can be here is because of the proper reason that I'm your friend, and I'm here personally to sightsee," The backstabber leaned on the fencing around the bushes, "If the situation changes such that a group of English magicians is here, other magical organizations will use this opportunity to request that they want to come in. Do you think that all these people are friendly to Academy City? There would definitely be people who would do some sabotaging. Do you think that these people will protect this place that's completely different from the magic world?"

Kamijou didn't reply so Tsuchimikado continued talking.

"As the leader of the scientific world, Academy City's voice is a lot louder than any small and nameless magical group, nya," The blonde was basically scratching his butt at this point, "But at this moment, if they reject the proposal, larger groups will then request to go in. Thus, this situation with Lidvia and Oriana is rather sensitive, Kami-yan. In this troublesome situation, if we call in other comrades, Academy City will be swallowed in chaos. In order to limit the number of people who know of this issue, the only people allowed to get involved are magicians who are familiar with the people of Academy City. There are few magicians with links to Academy City. So this time, we can only use a few elite troops to get in."

"What about Kanzaki, then?" Kamijou further argues, "Isn't she another person who's familiar with us? Isn't she supposed to be some superhuman called a Saint? Isn't it better to have more people right now if there really is trouble brewing?"

Stiyl looked at the boy like he is some kind of an idiot, "Kanzaki cannot be here now can we use her at this point, especially in this situation, because this spiritual item is rather special."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Kami-yan, the name of the weapon is "Stab Sword." Tsuchimikado stood up from his leaning position, "They say it can kill a saint with a single strike."

"I…I see…" Kamijou looked depressed as he just looks up at the sky. _Then I guess it would be just harder from here._ He then randomly looked at his watch and suddenly, he remembered something, "Oh right…the Big Ball Rolling event would be coming up. Would you be there, Tsuchimikado?"

"Of course, Kami-yan, nyahahahaha!" Tsuchimikado seemed to be back into his old foolish self as he turns his back, "Well, we better get going first for the game, Kami-yan…"

"Well…" Kamijou was about to say something when suddenly, he realized that with the presence of someone like Stiyl, there is something else that he could actually benefit from and he can use this chance to solve another personal problem he has been dealing with all this time, "Tsuchimikado, would you want to go ahead? There's something I needed to talk to Stiyl about Index. It would be best if it's just the two of us…"

"Ah…I see…nyahahaha, then I'll go ahead of you, playboy Kami-yan!" Tsuchimikado laughed even harder as within minutes, he was out of their sight.

"What was that all about?" Stiyl suspiciously eyes the boy once they were alone, "What do you mean about Inde—"

"Shhh. Actually, that's only an excuse," Kamijou knew that lying will bring this situation out but it was better than Tsuchimikado actually hearing it for now, "I do have one question though, is it possible for two people to switch bodies?"

Stiyl raised up his eyebrows and stopped puffing his cigarette the moment he heard the question of the boy, "What? If you mean stealing other people's identity, then the Aztecs can—"

"No…no…that's not what I meant," Kamijou shook his head, "What I mean is, people would really exchange bodies literally. For example, we both swapped our bodies and I would suddenly inhabit your taller body frame while you inhabit mines.

Now, this brought the attention of the magician into a full-swing, "Kamijou, as far as I can remember, we haven't recorded cases of people swapping bodies so suddenly. Why do you even ask that in the first place?"

"Well…" The boy was hesitating to reveal it at first but knowing he's already at this stage, he decided to blurt it out for the sake of the two ladies he knew personally, "Do you remember the incident at the Endymion Tower?"

"Yeah and what's the connection to this question of yours?" Stiyl asked.

"Well, the Black Crow leader that was formerly associated with the company of the builder of the tower finally got back her true identity when Meigo Arisa had fused back with her, right?" Kamijou knew he had to take this slowly, "Well…I don't know if you would believe me but one day, Shutaura and one of my classmate just realized they had both swapped their bodies so right now, we're in a tight pinch here as this classmate of mine had to act as the captain of Black Crows while Shutaura had to become a member of the high school committee…"

There was a momentary but uneasy silence as Stiyl then light his cigarette, "Did you try to use your right hand?"

"Well…I did when they suddenly came barging into my dormitory room but nothing happened," Kamijou truthfully replied, to the surprise of the fire sorcerer, "This is why I asked you that question. I was hoping that you can help me bring them back to their real bodies."

 _He's kidding, right?_ Stiyl can't believe what he heard.

He wanted to say that Kamijou must be pulling a prank at him but seeing that serious look at the face of the boy and the fact that he knew he isn't someone who would suddenly go and make some ridiculous claims about body swapping, he concluded that there must be some truth to what he is saying.

"Since this is my first time hearing such phenomenon…" Stiyl finally spoke, "Then I must see it with my own eyes. I had a feeling something is up with this…"


	8. The Harsh Truth (PART ONE)

The next event was "Big Ball Rolling".

Kamijou and his fellow students from a certain high school, save for someone masquerading as "Fukiyose Seiri," had already entered the arena. In this not so spacious compound, where the ground was covered with asphalt, both sides were lined up like they were in a cavalry war.

The rules were somewhat different from standard rules. When the gunshot to indicate the start of the match was fired, competitors would have to push 50 large balls—25 on the left side, and 25 on the right side—to the enemy's line. The winner would be the year group who pushed more than 25 balls past the opponent's line.

What was different from normal Big Ball Rolling matches was that participants from both sides would have to touch all the balls at least once. In other words, during that event, participants could use their powers to obstruct the opponent.

Like the other students, Kamijou placed his hand on a white team's ball that was two meters in diameter, as he smelled sweat and dust. Before the shot was fired, the atmosphere was tense. Although the nature of this match was similar to a game, the surrounding atmosphere made anyone feel serious.

But in that situation, Kamijou was worried about another thing.

He was thinking about the conversation he had with Stiyl and Tsuchimikado twenty minutes ago about a certain stab sword that was said to be able to convert and forcefully subjugate a territory and its inhabitants under the will and dominion of the Church. Add to that is the subject about the body switching between his classmate and a certain Black Crow operative, something which he brought up with the fire mage.

* * *

 _"Since this is my first time hearing such phenomenon…" Stiyl finally spoke, "Then I must see it with my own eyes. I had a feeling something is up with this…"_

" _There are no recorded cases of body switching in your experience?" Kamijou asked quite skeptically, not inclined to believe that it's impossible with the magic side. Well, no one could blame the spiky haired boy for being that stubborn and in disbelief. He did encountered a lot of things much worse before prior to this event and this doesn't even include Arisa Meigo, the alter ego of Shutaura._

" _Listen here, boy," Stiyl sounded gruff as he looks directly at the boy in the eyes, "Just because we're magicians and we're more flexible compared to your puny Espers doesn't mean that we can act or think like God. In the end, we're still humans and we have our limits. Even I need to take a quick recharge after spending all of my mana on Innocentius."_

" _Well…you can't blame me for not really believing that you don't have any cases about switching bodies with people you don't even know," Kamjou frowned as he crossed his arms, "I have seen everything else that your crazy world can do. I was expecting that you can give me some explanation about Fukiyose and Shutaura…"_

" _Like I said, I haven't witnessed something like that, akin to the case of Arisa Meigo," Stiyl grumbled beneath his smoking breath, barely restraining himself from having to strangle the spiky haired boy due to his impatience, "That's why I said that I need to see it with my own eyes. Besides, we still have to deal with the Back Stabber and whoever is carrying it."_

* * *

 _Thanks for the clear explanation._ Kamijou muttered but he also felt a bit helpless in the case of his classmate. If they don't get their original bodies back, they might end up being stuck in each other's body and poor Kamijou knew that it's only a matter of time before their little secret would explode and boy, he can already imagine the malicious grin and the annoying face that Aogami Pierce and most especially Tsuchimikado would show to him and he would be the subject of an endless ribbing involving the Kami-yan disease and how it manage to not only rust the Iron Wall Girl but also to capture the heart of a leopardess in the Black Crow captain.

 _I'm not looking forward in the coming of that day._ The boy grimaced.

In his dilly-dallying, Kamijou didn't noticed that he was actually in danger of getting overran by the gigantic balls as he was moving too slow and too distracted. Because the ball was too big, Kamijou was unable to see ahead from his position. Hearing Aogami shout "Incoming!" Kamijou snapped into his consciousness as he muttered, "Huh?"

"Watch out!" A shout came from behind.

Every student other than Kamijou ran away from the ball. _Wait…what the hell is going on right now?!_

Just when Kamijou was puzzled at the situation around him, an impact came from behind.

"Ugh… Wahh!"

He would have been stomped more mercilessly if it wasn't for a feminine hand, which appeared as if it came from thin air, suddenly dragging and pulling away the hapless boy away from the gigantic balls and the merciless students. Raising his head, Kamijou saw that it was "Fukiyose" who just smiled at him as she hauls the boy and leads him to the finish line.

"Thanks, Shutaura," Kamijou whispered as he looks around to make sure that no one heard him, "I owe you one big time for this. If it wasn't for you, I would have been in the mercy of my bad luck again."

"No problem," Shutaura winked at him before they were running to finish line, "Although I guess if it's the real Fukiyose who is with you at this point, she might have given you a quick right hook for slowing down the team's progress."

"Ah, you're right," Kamijou shivered and he felt glad that for once, this strange phenomenon of body switching had worked in his favor—although he wouldn't try to even say that in hushed tones as he could end up cursing himself if ever something bad happens later, "But this doesn't mean that I'm comfortable with this situation."

"I understand your concern," Shutaura nodded, turning into her serious demeanor as they reached the finish lines, "So that's why I practiced hard to act like that Fukiyose." _Hmph_ was left unsaid as they both held hands in rejoining their other classmates, who are already in the sidelines as they were all busy recharging their bodies with ionized drinks and cold water bottles while Aogami Pierce was sitting on the stone bench, looking like shit as he was lying emotionlessly on the cold slab of cement.

"Neh, Kami-yan…we're lucky we manage to pull through in the end…" The bluenette was obviously struggling to stand up as his remaining stamina has been significantly reduced and thus, his arms are soft like jelly, "Man, do you have some drink there?"

"No, Aogami," Kamijou shook his head, "I still have to sip the one last drink on my energy bottle," He then waved his hand as he motioned towards his sports bag, which was lying on the floor. But to his misfortune, he discovered that it was already empty. _Oh right I forgot that Index had already used up my last bottle of Gatorade. Damn gluttonous nun…_

"Here…" Shutaura felt pity upon seeing the despair in the face of the spiky haired boy and she remembered that she have her own health drink given to her by the real Fukiyose before they separated and as much as she knew that this was her last bottle as well, she decided to give it away to the boy, who was all on his fours while silently cursing a certain silver haired nun.

"Ah…are you sure about this?" Kamijou asked warily, knowing that the drink came from his real classmate who is far away from them and knowing the lather's violent tendencies, he'd rather not take a drink coming from the famed Iron Wall Girl.

"I don't really need this and you're dizzy at this point. You need to replenish your stamina," Shutaura shrugged as she hands the bottle to the boy, who nodded weakly and as soon as he got the bottle, he greedily slurps it, not like the girl occupying Fukiyose's face minds. She had seen worse, from Crow 7 drinking beer during their free times to Crow 8 being sober in the wee hours at their headquarters. This one today is a welcome change for her.

But as Shutaura Sequenzia was just starting to go down to her own memory lane, someone else had just decided to barge in and began to disrupt her moment.

"Waaaaah!" The voice of Aogami was beginning to catch the attention, not only of their own classmates but also the other competing students and passersby who watched the bluenette wail in despair rivaling that of Kamijou a while back, "Dammit, you lucky dawg! What did you do, huh, Kami-yan?! Last time I saw, you were talking to her too close that you must be betraying us!"

"What do you mean about, 'what did I do' Aogami?" Kamijou asked rather obliviously.

"I mean, that!" The lolicon points at the sports bottle that the spiky haired boy was drinking from and then he pointed at 'Fukiyose's' large chest, "And why did Fukiyose-sama just gave the permission to drink at her own bottle?! It's indirect kissing, ya know!"

At the outburst of the third member of the Delta Trio, everyone gasped and began to murmur in agreement as Kamijou looked around, getting terrified as their male classmates began to pound their fists with their knuckles and were looking at the Imagine Breaker like he was a deer to their lions. _Okay, I'm going to die!_ Kamijou thought as Aogami was busy riling up everyone and being the ring leader of this farce, he also began to chant quisling-like statements against his own best friend.

"Death to the Kamijou bloodline!" The bluenette yelled.

"Death to the Kamijou Touma!"

"Kami-yan, I'll surely—"

 _Smack!_

Aogami Pierce didn't get to finish his sentence as stealthily as she could, Shutaura angrily crept up to the bluenette and before the male can see it coming, the Black Crow immediately socked the jaw of the lolicon. If it was the real Fukiyose, Aogami would be lucky off in just getting away with a cut and a large bruise but right now, Shutaura's fists packed quite a strong punch and the boy ended up getting his nose damaged and a single tooth detached violently as the bluenette ended up crashing down back to the earth for the second time in a single day.

"I never thought you were tough as a rock," Shutaura commented as she wiped off the dust in her shoulders, "So I decided I should dish out three times what I normally deliver…"

"Although I think that was unnecessary," Kamijou pointed at the incapacitated Aogami, who was carried by a stretcher towards a waiting ambulance, "I mean, with Fu—I mean, in the past, you managed to somehow strike down the three of us without having to send us to the infirmary, which actually happens rarely."

"Oh, come on, baka…" The girl was perfectly mimicking what Fukiyose would have said at that time when they were surrounded by their own classmates, "This idiot had to learn his lesson sooner or later before he eventually loses all of his teeth…by the way, I'll lead you out of this mess and from there, I'll leave you now. I have an event to attend to again and I just want to make sure everything goes as fine."

Everyone then made way for the two as Shutaura and Kamijou then got out of the crowded area and went for a more secluded and spacious pavilion. Once they made their way there, she eventually left for an event she was talking about and right now, Kamijou was standing there like a real idiot, not knowing what to do now since his next event is still an hour later. _Now, what should I do?_

"Neh, Kami-yan, Fukiyose today looks a bit cranky, ya know?"

"Yeah…yeah…I know…"

Kamijou stopped. And then he blinked before he turned to his left.

"Nice performance, Kami-yan, in hitting Fukiyose…"

"Tsuchimikado?!" Kamijou nearly shrieked like a banshee at his best friend, who was sipping his drink like he didn't care for the world, "Where have you been?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, Kami-yan. By the way, we need to get out of here for now. We still have a lot of things to talk bout."

* * *

After the Big Ball Rolling match, which was won by the school of both Kamijou Touma and Tsuchimikado Motoharu, they proceeded to ride to one of the automatic buses available and as they rode, they then continued their conversation about what they were talking with Stiyl Magnus and what they were supposed to confront with.

"Kami-Yan, do you know how the Son of God was killed on the cross?" Tsuchimikado asked as he leaned into a railing by the entrance of the bus.

"Wasn't He…nailed there?" Kamijou asked, looking to Tsuchimikado from where he is seated.

Tsuchimikado merely smirked as he gave his answer, "He was stabbed to death."

He then took a sip of his drink.

"The Stab Sword has the religious meaning of execution and assassination, a spiritual weapon that can expand and contract at will, to any length." He continued, "It's said that it can stab through a dragon and pin it onto the ground. It's useless against humans, but it's a sure kill against Saints. No matter how far, just pointing the sword at something is enough to kill it."

Hearing that, Kamijou broke out in cold sweat. "What do magicians have planned, trading something like that?"

"It's for war, Kami-yan." Tsuchimikado raised his right hand, as if making a point, "A Saint is the magical equivalent to a nuclear weapon. After killing the enemy's Saints and protecting all your comrades in the first place will result in a drastic change of tide in battle."

To ordinary high school students living in Academy City or even in modern Japan, a war is something that didn't sound sensible by current living standards. But Kamijou had come close to it once. Once, because of the magical Book of the Law and the nun who claimed to have cracked the code, Orsola Aquinas, the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and Amakusa Church had a three-way battle. If there was a real war, the scale would definitely be much larger. _A war that would affect the entire world, a war that would involve ordinary and innocent people, a war that would change the landscape._

"But there are plenty of magicians who aren't Saints, right?" Kamijou raised a logical point, "I'd imagine they could fight without Kanzaki…"

"That's not the issue…"

The spiky haired boy raised his eyebrows at the unexpected "no."

"It's not whether or not we can win." Tsuchimikado rested down his chin on the railing, "Once we get the wrong feeling that we can win, we'll provoke a war. Once a Saint, who signifies power, is dead, it'll likely destroy the balance of the magical society."

Tsuchimikado's words had a cold and oppressive feeling in them.

It was probably because of his status as an agent, working in different places, that he knew the weaknesses of this world.

"But wait, if this is that serious a problem, shouldn't we ask Index for help?"

"No…" Tsuchimikado's voice grew serious, "We can't use Index. Not only must we not allow her to be near the scene, we can't let her know anything about this."

"Because there are a lot of complicated reasons. But basically, if anything were to happen, she'd become the center of attention," Tsuchimikado explained as both he and Kamijou alighted the bus, reaching their destination, "That's how magicians are looking for her. If she were to be discovered, magicians would come flooding in, aiming for her."

Tsuchimikado then swerved to the right, motioning that he was prepared to leave the scene.

"In other words, we cannot allow Index to sense any magical presence, or anything related to it?"

Kamijou thought it sounded easy, but was actually difficult to pull off. Index had memorized the 103,000 grimoires in order to counter all magicians. She wouldn't let go of any tiny clue easily. Once she found one, she would spring into action.

As Kamijou was thinking about that, Tsuchimikado gently shook the empty bottle.

"However, Kami-yan, this is another misfortune. I guess you won't be happy since Index's been getting all the credit?"

"Idiot. I'm worried for her. Really, that Index is too much. My troubles are already so much!"

Kamijou clicked his tongue as he continued his thoughts. Seeing his face from the side, Tsuchimikado laughed. That laugh had no sense of irony or mockery—in fact, it's just one of his normal laughs whenever something bad happens to his spiky haired friend.

"Anyway, this is how it goes, nya. You will take care of Index, and try to hide any hint of what's happening in Academy City. Oh yeah, you can go shopping with her; try and get her away from any place where there might be a magical battle."

"Ah, what are you saying!? You're making it sound so easy…!"

"There's no problem! To this unfortunate Kamijou Touma, this is but a trivial matter!"

"Where is this confidence coming from!? What'll happen for our next match? Fukiyose will go berserk if we play hooky! Isn't this much scarier?"

"I'll leave that to you! Right now, the most important thing is Index. However, that Index, she can be easily controlled with food, nya. If anything happens, throw the food in the opposite direction, nya!"

"…You rascal, if Index heard this, she'd bite until your skull breaks. Wait, that's not right, I never saw her bite a human other than me…"

"By the way," Tsuchimikado then made a face which Kamijou couldn't even describe, "I actually saw that Black Crow captain busy manning a command post not far from here. I don't know why but how she acts reminds me of our bff in Fukiyose. Maybe it's just their similar faces or it's the effect of her reemerging with Arisa Meigo…"

 _Oh crap…_ Kamijou sweated a little as Tsuchimikado went on with the tirade until the blonde's already finished.

"But well, it's not our problem nya and you should just focus on this…"

Tsuchimikado patted Kamijou's shoulder hard as Kamijou merely nodded.

* * *

After he and Tsuchimikado has separated ways, Kamijou began to look around the lines of food stalls that were being managed by the students who tried to earn money in the Daihaseisai. Something tells him that Index would be out here somewhere so his instincts led him to this place. But to his dismay, he didn't find any single clue about silver haired nun.

In fact, he didn't even know that the person he was looking had just left the area just a few minutes ago. _If only I had the same tech that Shutaura-san was using in their Black Crows' operations, it would be much easier to find that brat…_

Suddenly, somebody tapped him softly on the shoulder.

Turning around, the boy noticed the soft eyes of Himegami, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, staring on him and Tsuchimikado Maika, who was sitting on a cleaning robot and selling bentos, looking at him like he was a lost kid.

"Why are you looking like you're about to face the final boss. Why put on a brave warrior look?"

"Why do you look so dead? Are you hungry? Do you need a bento?"

Kamijou, who was intending to head out to battle, was shaken by the duo's smooth voices.

"Forget that, have you seen Index anywhere?" Kamijou decided to just fire away before this small talk goes somewhere down the drain.

Himegami pointed in a direction completely different from where the stalls were. "I saw the Sister walking over there."

"Seems like she was pulled aside by that famous miniature-sized teacher in Kamijou Touma's school," Maika replied, who tilted her head up as she was still sitting on the robot.

"Thanks," This was all what Kamijou needed to hear as he dashes away from them to find the silver-haired nun, who was said to have been dragged away by his pinkette sensei.

As the spiky haired boy was running in the streets, he then began to have convoluted thoughts. _I see that Himegami haven't noticed the body switch between Fukiyose and Shutaura but to think that Tsuchimikado saw her…I won't be surprised to hear that Tsuchimikado somehow learned of the strange phenomenon even before he would hear it from me or from Stiyl. Speaking of that, how is Stiyl holding up right now?_

He thought as he walked along the road. The pedestrians on the streets were admiring the wind turbine rotor blades that generated electricity. The scene did give a fresh feeling.

Suddenly, a cat's meow could be heard, quickly pulling him out of his moping.

One would know just by hearing the sound—it was the cry of a calico cat.

"Huh? Index?"

Kamijou stopped and turned around to the direction where the cry had come from. It was a little park that was surrounded by buildings. The wired fence was a lot taller than usual, and it looked like it was rejecting and oppressing anything within a large radius. It was hard to see anything if one looked in from outside the entrance because the lush foliage of trees blocked the line of sight.

Kamijou thought that it couldn't be helped.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't technically a park although a lot of students had been accustomed to calling it as such. There was a sign hung on the wired fence, saying "Property of Tadayama University Botanical Department". It was a place where they collected data on plant growth. Even during the Daihaseisai, where the security was much tighter, nobody was patrolling around here. Though the place was open to the public, it didn't mean that anyone should go in.

The familiar calico cat was busy resting in a large rock as he was busy licking its arms. He just meowed louder as Kamijou crept closer.

"So it's just you, Sphynx?" Kamijou muttered to himself as he gently took Sphynx into his hands and began to scour the whole area to find any signs of the gluttonous nun.

"Index? Are you there? Shout out if you hear me—"

"I'm sorry. It pains to make you change here, but…"

As soon as he heard those voiced, he continued forward, widening his eyes when he saw what was in front of him.

The nun in question was right in front of him.

But why was she changing?

"Ehhhh…."

Kamijou and Index stopped what they were doing.

Komoe Tsukuyomi, who was wearing the cheerleader uniform, was facing Index, and her back was facing Kamijou, so she had no idea that he was there.

Kamijou thought that was strange.

In his memory, the last time he had seen Index, she was wearing a white nun's habit with gold embroidery that was like a teacup. For some reason however, her robes were folded neatly on the floor. Also, why were there similar colored underwear stacked on her robes?

 _And why was she wearing a cheerleader uniform, a white sleeveless vest and a light green short skirt that was similar to what Komoe-sensei was wearing?!_

Index's expression went from shock to "I'm going to kill that guy". Kamijou was absolutely terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat, and was unable to move. Komoe, who was wearing the cheerleader's uniform, was talking to Index casually, not knowing what was going on.

"Touma!? How many times has it been!?"

"Wahhh! I'm really sorry! Please don't bite me again!"

Kamijou twisted his body, wanting to dodge Index's head biting attack. Index, who had leaped over, pounced onto Kamijou with two hands and stuck tightly onto his body. She was unable to aim at his head however, as her target started to move suddenly.

Index's small mouth bit onto Kamijou's face.

"Waaaahhhhh!"

Kamijou could feel the soft texture of her lips, as well as her hard jagged teeth. That warm thing between the two rows of teeth should be her tongue. The breath warmer than Kamijou's body temperature blew onto his face. Feeling Index's saliva, Kamijou couldn't help but tremble.

"Woah, Index!"

Kamijou, whose face was all red, shouted out, but was unable to hear Index's reply.

Index got away from Kamijou in a fast yet silent manner. Normally, Index would be shouting, but this time, she silently kept her head down, her facial expression could not be seen as even her ears were red. He wondered if she was having any special thoughts about biting others subconsciously. She seemed to have taken a huge blow, not even noticing that her attire was untidy.

Kamijou looked at Komoe-sensei. She just placed her two hands on her face, giving a vague "Wa… aaaaa…" sound, which didn't sound reliable at all.

"It's… it's not, that, Index-hime? It's alright, this is an accident!

Seeing the cheerleader girl trembling silently, Kamijou took one step back, two steps but just when he was about to take a third step….

"Kamijou!"

"Touma-kun!"

The boy froze. _Those two voices were familiar._

And they belonged to the two people whom he would want to see last, especially in a obscene situation like this.

Kamijou paid attention to Index carefully as he nervously turned around.

Fukiyose Seiri and Shutaura Sequenzia—in each other's shoes.

The woman in the black leather suit began to speak coldly as her piercing voice, "I was forced to rush in here because the drone that we are using reported a strange activity here and what do I find?"

"Save yourself the anguish of getting reported to the office for ethical behavior and just get him out of here," Now, Shutaura, in Fukiyose's body, shook her head a she had to bite her tongue to prevent calling the other one by her real name and to prevent any misunderstandings."

Even so, Fukiyose seemed to be hell-bent in wanting to punish the boy as she was readily swinging her fists, "What are you doing here, though?! Stop being a truant!"

Only the timely intervention of the other female present spared the poor boy from a lot of beatings as he was sent rolling to the ground.

* * *

Some ten minutes later, the three people was seen walking out of the botanical area as Kamijou Touma, who suffered a bruise in his cheek but he deemed it a normal one, was being dragged by Fukiyose Seiri, who is really in a violent mood right now, by his collar. Shutaura Sequenzia didn't approve the physical abuse being done to the boy but she decided to let the real classmate of the boy handle things her way.

But it didn't mean she was going to keep quiet about it.

"At the very least, loosen up your grip on him," Shutaura pointed out blandly, "He's almost choking to his death."

"Well…I'm his _real_ classmate here, you know," Fukiyose snarled, "I can do whatever I like with this Kamijou…"

"Fukiyose…" Suddenly, Kamijou moaned as he looked up to his classmate that had an iron grip on him like metal cuffs binding two hands, "Please take it easy on this poor Kamijou-san. I've been tired from that last event and right now, I'm losing every bit of my strength. If you will mind, please don't be so tight on me…"

"Then let's hold hands."

Fukiyose unexpectedly let go of Kamijou's collar, and extended her small hand out. Seemed like she applied some hand cream over her soft hands; it was either the Coenzyme Q10 or some popular health product that was highly recommended.

"Ah? Erm—then if you don't mind."

He hesitated, before holding Fukiyose's hand. He thought that her hand would be cold, but it was unexpectedly warm. Kamijou felt his heart thumping crazily.

Fukiyose glanced at him.

"You're too slow."

"…"

Kamijou, who was lamenting "Why is my heart beating so violently," was pulled away by the Iron Wall Girl, who was not in the best of spirits.

"Never thought that you could be considerate to him," Shutaura commented in a snarky manner as she followed the two from behind.

"Sh-Shut up! Besides, stop saying things like that especially since you're occupying my body," The girl in the leather cutsuit replied back, glaring as she looks behind her shoulder. "It might lead to a misunderstanding."

"Hai…hai…" The other female present in the trio simply nodded although no one was sure if she was actually listening to her or not, "I've done my job quite pretty well—probably more than you would have expected from me. The next event from now has already done its preparations so I hope I can see the two of you cheering for the two events."

"Eh…sorry to ask but what are those two events again?" Kamijou asked.

At that point, Fukiyose wanted to call him stupid but Shutaura spoke up even before she could, "The events which your school is participating is the second year girls' tug of war and another three events from the guys' side, namely the Bread Eating Rice, Triathlon, and Ladle Match. Although I suspected that you'll support the girls since you're a boy, after all, Fukiyose here might want you to at least show some support for your seniors."

Kamijou nodded in understanding, "I see. Although I guess I would be fine in supporting both sides of the events, I don't know what can happen from now on because of my stupid luck." Again, Fukiyose was about to call him a lazy moron when the other girl cut in, "I understand. No need to feel bad about it."

Fukiyose saw that despite Kamijou's disappointment at the remark that he received, there was still a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. It took her a minute to figure out why but it hit her quickly. Shutaura had calmly answered his question without making him feel bad about it. She even calmed him down when he was about to go on his rants about his so-called misfortune. She didn't hit him, she didn't make him sound like an idiot for not knowing what are the games for the afternoon slot of the Daihaseisai, and she didn't talk to him like she was talking to someone half her age.

Which was all exactly what Fukiyose was more like likely to do.

The girl then felt blended expressions of disappointment, anger, and jealousy about the brief exchange between his classmate and the one who exchanged physical bodies with her. Unconsciously, she gripped the hands of the surprised boy and she just pulled him upfront and much closer to her. Kamijou himself was beginning to feel the tension as he felt what seemed to be like a dark vital force surrounding his classmate. Gulping, he decided to break the tension by speaking, "By the way, Shutaura, thanks for the help in controlling Aogami and those rowdy male classmates of mine. I mean, they would just make annoying references about a disease that doesn't even exist and sometimes, I even get involved in the carnage just for that thing alone."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. I know how to distinguish a bonafide idiot from an innocent man. I worked in the Black Crows before, after all," Shutaura shrugged her shoulders, "Although I concede the fact that I was a bit…psychotic before we've met each other."

"Yeah, but let's not get to that," Kamijou didn't want to remind himself of what happened back in the Endymion Tower and he wouldn't want the other party who was with them to hear it; otherwise, he might be suspected once again sooner or later.

Although at this point, Fukiyose decided to speak and let her thoughts be heard loud and clear.

"Kamijou…" She finally caught the attention of the boy.

"What was it, Fukiyose? Do you need something?"

"You do realize that we're walking here side-by-side and yet, you're not even talking with me," the tone in her voice sounded a bit hostile, "What's your problem?"

"Huh? Well…you see…I don't see what we should talk about nor do I think I you would want to hear some of my senseless talks," Kamijou honestly spoke what he thought, "Besides, we rarely even talk at school prior to this and at times, you were so uptight to us, Aogami, and Tsuchimikado and…you know already what I will say…"

Something about what he said struck a nerve on her as she processed the words in her brain. In all honesty, what boy had just said to him is just all true. Prior to this event, she has been always hostile to the spiky haired boy and his friends and sometimes, she would even punish the boy down for something that didn't even have something to do with him at all. If one is to ask an honest opinion of their classmates, it is that Fukiyose didn't hesitate to show to the whole world that she openly hates the boy from the bottom of her heart. Although that's just only an outside opinion because in reality, Fukiyose does care for the boy deep inside, not that she would actually admit it or else, she would lose face as the girl with the steel walls resistant enough to fight off the advance of the dreaded Kami-yan disease.

By this time, it was quite a distance from where they had gotten separated from Index. Fukiyose seemed intent on bringing Kamijou back to school to cheer for their schoolmates although something was happening inside her that neither the two of the people present could know but he had to get to work once Tsuchimikado and Stiyl, who were searching for Oriana, contacted him. This was bad, what could he do? Kamijou continued to worry on his own.

"Hey, Kamijou, how do you see me as of now? Please, I wanted your honest opinion…"

Fukiyose, who was holding hands with Kamijou, suddenly asked him that.

"Hah…What?"

Kamijou frowned and at the same time, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I've been feeling that you seem a bit awkward to be around me. It's like something's on your mind whenever we're together. Tell me, was it because of how we interact at school?"

Kamijou was startled inside.

They then halted to a stop once Fukiyose decided to stop walking and he faced the boy.

"You know that it's a fact that we don't interact much outside of class and I won't deny that I actually don't like your attitude from the start but…" She paused, wanting to choose her words carefully, "Something about what I have seen today from your performance made me reassess what I think of you all this time…"

Kamijou only stared at her owlishly while Shutaura only shook her head in a mild chuckle, not that the Iron Wall Girl mind. But then, Fukiyose was glad when Kamijou decided to give her an answer, "Hnnn. I'll be honest to you too. Actually, you're very scary and sometimes, I think that you're being unfair to me whenever you beat me even two times more than what you dish out to both Aogami and Tsuchimikado, both whom I blame for all the mishaps that's happening around me during class hours. But other than that, I feel it strange that you're acting like this…"

"Why?"

"Why? Besides the fact that you're occupying someone else's body, I think you're just fine the way you are. I mean, you did worked hard to help in preparing the celebration of the Daihaseisai and even if you're with the Black Crows, you're still contributing to that. Knowing that is already a plus point for me," Kamijou sighed, "Besides, I don't want to talk about this since it would get pretty awkward but maybe…just maybe…if you can decrease your violent headbutts on me, I'd prefer that you take that route. But all in all, you're a great classmate. Nothing more. Nothing less."

For some reason, Fukiyose felt a bit disappointed at his response but still, it was more than enough for her to know what he felt about herself. _I see…_

"Baka. Why don't you just tell him how you really feel?" Shutaura just had the perfect timing to make that on-the-spot response as she crossed her arms, "You're just dragging this further and further and it doesn't solve what you're feeling inside you."

"Shut up, you Shutaura! You're not even involved in this!" Fukiyose roared angrily, her fists tightening.

"Hmh…hmh…That's what I mean when I said that you're dragging it further," Shutaura felt her hand running in her face, "Who knows, along the way, that Misaka-san or even Index-san might end up stealing your man so better do something now while you're still here with Touma-san…"

"WHY YOU…" Fukiyose was prepared to lunge herself hilariously at her own real body when something unexpected happened.

As the tension grew even colder, Kamijou felt that he was pushed back a bit violently.

The spiky haired boy was knocked forward by that unexpected accident, and because of that, the distance between Kamijou and Fukiyose, who was staring at him, was shrunk in an instant. The distance between their faces was merely about thirty centimeters.

"Gah…!"

"Eh…!"

Just when both of them cried out, the distance between the two became zero. Kamijou and Fukiyose's foreheads gently knocked into each other. Their noses touched each other, and although their lips didn't meet, Kamijou could feel her soft breath blowing onto his lips.

 _What?!_

Kamijou's inadvertently stopped breathing.

"Get away from me, Kamijou Touma!"

The next moment, Fukiyose rammed in hard at Kamijou with her head.

"Wah!?"

Kamijou's upper body swung backwards. The hand he was originally holding onto was let loose. He knew that his head was hot. Fukiyose's expression didn't seem to change, but she was becoming more irritated. Shutaura scratched her head. _This is even becoming more and more…I don't know how to say it…_

His fall was broken all of the sudden and his head hit something rather soft.

After he calmly confirmed it, he realized that it was the breasts of a female.

"Woaaahhhh!?"

Kamijou frantically moved backwards. _What's with this sudden series of events!?_ Facing Kamijou, who was really scared, the female who had collided with him only said "Ahhhhh," and didn't seem to mind.

Beside Kamijou, Fukiyose gave a low bellow "…Kamijou," her tone full of vengeance.

The person who had knocked into him was a female, about eighteen or nineteen years old, who was wearing plain working clothes. Judging from her looks, she should be on the same age as a certain female Saint.

She was taller than Kamijou and moreso than both Fukiyose and Shutaura. The former was considered to have a rather good body compared to her classmates, but it was lacking in comparison to this lady's beauty. Not only were the curves of her breasts and waist wicked, she was giving an invisible flirtatious sense.

 _I have a bad feeling about this girl..._ Shutaura narrowed her eyes against the blonde.

The lady's hair seemed to be either curled or waxed, and it seemed like a lot of effort was put into it. She had separated her hair into many small bundles, and curled them using an electric perm, before she tied them into bundles of three. She also put in quite a bit of detail in other small areas, so that should be a hairstyle which she had spent quite some time creating. Although there weren't any decorations on it, the hair itself looked like a refined gold ornament.

"Wa…"

The one who cried out wasn't Kamijou, but Fukiyose, who was right beside him.

The woman was wearing a rather clumsy looking work uniform, but her clothes were wide open. It was not that she didn't button up the second button, but rather all the buttons other than the second button were unbuttoned. The cleavage of her breasts and navel were wide open for all to see. Kamijou felt that it was like she was wearing a swimsuit.

Her pants were rather loose, and it seemed like they were hanging onto her waist. Although Kamijou didn't purposely go behind her to confirm it, it was likely that he would see her butt on the loose side of the pants.

Not only was that get up revealing quite a bit, there was also the danger of her clothes dropping off if she moved in the slightest bit.

The lade who was holding what looked like a large placard that can be seen in ice cream shops made a random movement to show her apology with the other hand that was free, and spoke in unexpectedly fluent Japanese.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to such crowded areas! Is there any place that's hurting? Ah, here? Is the back of your head still hurting?"

 _What a flirt!_ Both the two girls sandwiching Kamijou thought.

She then extended her hand out, requesting a handshake with Kamijou.

"This is an apology for knocking into you. Normally, you Japanese people would lower your head to apologize, but we normally do this."

"Ah… that's how it is?"

"Oh my. Do I need to give a kiss?"

Kamijou did a spit-take.

After trembling for a while, the pure and innocent Kamijou Touma let his hormones take control of him shouted, "I want a kiss!"

Fukiyose Seiri's fist instantly smashed into Kamijou's solar plexus as Shutaura Sequenzia's hand smacked him behind his head. The blonde lady stared at him, who was still shaking his head, laughed, and extended her hand out again. Behaving himself, Kamijou used his right hand to shake the painter's hand.

Suddenly, a wonderful and _familiar_ sound was heard, like something a glass wine holder was hit and shattered into pieces.

"Eh?"

The one who made that sound wasn't Kamijou and Shutaura nor the lady, but Fukiyose Seiri, who was staring at them. As both sides understood what happened, they didn't make any noise. Shutaura suddenly remembered the power that Kamijou's right hand possessed. _I see now. Other than this clueless Fukiyose, everyone here knows that something here is amiss. From what I gathered in Arisa Meigo's memories, his right hand can cancel anything supernatural. But if that shattering sound happened, that means…_

The painter lady was trying to confirm if anything was broken.

"Oh my."

The lady tried to force a bitter smile, and failed.

"I need to get back to work. Bye now."

She said that, but left before Kamijou and the two girls with him could respond. Though her actions weren't any different, that regal feeling was now lost.

"Touma-san, I think I should let others take charge of an event this afternoon."

"Huh? Why?" Kamijou asked, now panic building inside him.

"Don't take me for a fool; I know the power in your right hand," Shutaura pointed at his right hand, "Although I don't really understand it that much, I can tell that it cancels out anything supernatural, right?"

"Yeah, that's right but—"

"Wait a minute! What non-sense are you talking about?!" Fukiyose felt left out once again and she angrily pointed at the boy, "What power are you talking about, Shutaura? Last time I check, he's also Level 0 like me. And take note, someone who doesn't work hard to be able to achieve a much higher level…"

"O-Oi, Fukiyose, that's a bit…"

"That just shows how ignorant you are," Shutaura sighed, feeling that the two of them needed to patiently explain it to her, "The reason why he's stuck as a Level 0 is because his power is something that cannot be measure by numbers alone."

Fukiyose felt a bit aghast about the topic, "That's complete rubbish! The only way you can achieve powers is through achieving the highest Level here and that's why there's the Power Curriculum Program…"

"Fukiyose, what she's saying is not a complete lie. In fact, they're all correct…"

Fukiyose's eyes widened at the admission of the boy, who then sharply turns to the other female present, "Oi, Shutaura, do you really have to tell her about the Imagine Breaker?"

"She already saw it herself when your right hand dispelled whatever magical power that blonde held," Shutaura explained, "Considering that she's holding my body and that she's expected to take charge of the city's security, it's better if we just tell it straight to her."

"I don't get it! What's the meaning with all of these?! What is this Imagine Breaker that she's talking about, Kamijou?!" Fukiyose wanted answers and she wanted it now.

Sighing, Kamijou then fished out a phone before she motioned the two to follow him, "Fukiyose, everything that you believe here in Academy City…they're not what you think it is…"


End file.
